U.S. Sen. John Boozman (R-AR) has introduced the Senate's version of the Medicare Access to Radiology Care Act (MARCA), a bill that would allow radiologists to submit Medicare claims for nonimaging services performed by radiologist assistants (RAs).
The proposed legislation, SB 1544, would include services performed by RAs in hospitals and office settings, as well as imaging services in hospitals, according to the American Society of Radiologic Technologists (ASRT). MARCA would recognize RAs and radiologist practitioner assistants as midlevel providers of healthcare services working under the supervision of a radiologist, the ASRT said.
SB 1544 is a companion to HR 1970, which was introduced by U.S. Rep. Mike Doyle (D-PA) in March. MARCA has the support of the ASRT and other radiological organizations such as the American Registry of Radiologic Technologists, American College of Radiology, and the Society of Radiology Physician Extenders.
