Imaging advocates continued their fight against forthcoming provider pay reductions this week after the U.S. House took a first key step on Friday.
They’re targeting a moratorium on Medicare sequester cuts that’s set to expire on March 31. Lawmakers had previously paused this routine annual 2% reduction as part of a year-end spending bill, but radiologists and other physicians want to see the freeze extended through the rest of the public health crisis.
House representatives on Friday passed the bipartisan Medicare Sequester COVID Moratorium Act, which will do just that, if approved by the other chamber of Congress.
“Our healthcare professionals report growing burnout and hospitals are experiencing decreased revenue as more are forced to stop elective procedures,” Rep. Brad Schneider, D-Ill., said March 19. “Now is not the time to reinstitute across-the-board cuts to our providers.
Meanwhile, Sens. Jeanne Shaheen, D-N.H., and Susan Collins, R-Maine, have already introduced their own bill in the Senate. Groups such as the Radiology Business Management Association, Centers for Diagnostic Imaging and Society of Nuclear Medicine and Molecular Imaging have urged Senate leaders to act on the issue.
“As urgent action is needed to avoid any additional, preventable strains on our healthcare system and those individuals who continue to perform treatments and examinations in this challenging environment, we hope the 117th Congress will act quickly to extend the Medicare sequester moratorium through the end of the year,” SNMMI said in a news update shared Monday.
Marty Stempniak has covered healthcare since 2012, with his byline appearing in the American Hospital Association's member magazine, Modern Healthcare and McKnight's. Prior to that, he wrote about village government and local business for his hometown newspaper in Oak Park, Illinois. He won a Peter Lisagor and Gold EXCEL awards in 2017 for his coverage of the opioid epidemic.