Legislation has been introduced into the U.S. Congress that would add radiologist assistants to the list of professions that have nonphysician practitioner (NPP) status under Medicare rules.
Nonphysician practitioners are a type of physician extender designed to alleviate the workload that doctors face by performing some tasks for them. NPPs can bill the U.S. Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) for their services, but they are typically reimbursed at 85% of what CMS would pay a physician under the Medicare Physician Fee Schedule. In radiology, NPPs are represented by advanced-level radiologic technologists such as registered radiologist assistants (RRAs) and radiology physician assistants (RPAs).
Both professions would win Medicare recognition as nonphysician practitioners under S 2940, legislation introduced May 17 in the Senate by Sen. John Boozman (R-AR). The bill would provide for Medicare recognition of RRAs who are certified by the American Registry of Radiologic Technologists (ARRT), as well as RPAs certified by the Certification Board for Radiology Practitioner Assistants (CBRPA).
S 2940 is a companion bill to HR 4614, the Medicare Access to Radiology Care Act of 2016, which was introduced in the House of Representatives in February. The Senate bill was assigned to the Finance Committee on May 17.
