No medical imaging cuts have been included in the Middle Class Tax Relief and Job Creation Act, a bill to fix the sustainable growth rate (SGR) formula. A vote on the bill is expected to take place on December 13 in the U.S. House of Representatives.
The bill, HR 3630, prevents an across-the-board 27% cut to Medicare physician reimbursement that was statutorily required by the SGR formula, according to the American College of Radiology (ACR). It provides physicians with a 1% increase in Medicare payments for 2012 and 2013.
Although the vote on HR 3630 is expected to take place on December 13, the ACR said it's unclear at this point whether the bill will pass the House. If it does pass, the bill will advance to the Senate, where it faces significant opposition, the ACR said.
On the downside, the ACR said it's "extremely disappointed and frustrated" that HR 3630 does not include language from the Diagnostic Imaging Services Access Protection Act (HR 3269), which would block implementation of a 25% multiple procedure payment reduction (MPPR) to the professional component payment for MRI, CT, and ultrasound exams.
The ACR said it will continue to press senators to include language from HR 3269 in any SGR legislation considered in the U.S. Senate.
