Several groups representing both radiologists and imaging manufacturers are pressing U.S. lawmakers for a Medicare pay hike to help cover personal protective equipment and other supplies.
They’re also pushing congressional leaders to establish a loan program that would help cover imaging equipment upgrades, industry advocates said in a letter issued Monday. Providers have been hit hard by the pandemic and may need help in maintaining their arsenal of diagnostic tools, wrote the American College of Radiology, Society of Nuclear Medicine and Molecular Imaging, and others.
“The COVID-19 pandemic has shown the importance of having high-quality, up-to-date capital equipment to diagnose, monitor and stage treatment. With providers sustaining such extreme losses, the ability for them to continue updating and maintaining their capital equipment has diminished,” the groups wrote to Sens. Mitch McConnell and Charles Schumer, along with House Reps. Nancy Pelosi and Kevin McCarthy, on July 20. “We recommend Congress establish, or allow for the flexibility of provider relief funds, to be used for a capital equipment loan program.”
The groups noted that imaging providers have suffered “staggering losses and severe economic outlooks” since the start of the pandemic. That’s been fueled partly by postponement of nonemergent and elective procedures and further exacerbated by the need to buy costly PPE. Medicare reimbursement for providers is based around prior year’s costs, they wrote, and does not reflect the surging amount of resources practices have dedicated to the novel coronavirus. To counter this trend, ACR and others want a 1% boost for Medicare services until at least Dec. 31, of 2021.
“As a result of the COVID-19 emergency, healthcare providers have experienced major disruptions in their healthcare delivery services, and significantly higher costs for infection control, PPE, and other capital improvements to ensure the safety of their patients and practitioners,” they wrote.
In addition, the groups also urged Congress to waive budget neutrality for Medicare payment changes related to evaluation and management services. Advocates have noted for months that, without such changes, imaging providers stand to lose millions in the coming years. They’re also looking for Medicare loan forgiveness, along with the extension of Medicare sequestration cuts. A current suspension under the CARES Act extends through Dec. 31, but the groups want that dated pushed through the end of 2021.
You can read the entire letter here. Others signing the request include the American Society of Radiologic Technologists, Association for Quality Imaging, Centers for Diagnostic Imaging, the Medical Imaging and Technology Alliance, and the Radiology Business Management Association.
Congressional lawmakers are returning this week from their two-week Independence Break and are slated to tackle an ambitious agenda, the ACR noted in update to members shared July 15. Senate leader McConnell is pushing hard for the inclusion of liability shields for businesses, a provision that radiologists and other providers have favored. There’s also been discussion of addressing surprise billing as part of the next stimulus package, a development the college is watching closely to “make sure radiologists, other physicians and patients are not harmed by provisions designed to reduce the ability of providers to negotiate fairly with insurance companies,” ACR wrote last Wednesday.
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.