AdvaMed Backs Request for Moratorium on DRA Imaging Cuts
After reviewing the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) proposed rules for ambulatory surgery center (ASC) reimbursement, the Outpatient Prospective Payment System (OPPS), and the Physician Fee Schedule, AdvaMed President and CEO Stephen J. Ubl declated today:
“AdvaMed is concerned about proposed cuts for imaging procedures, some of which are mandated by The Deficit Reduction Act of 2005 (DRA). Imaging is vital to the early detection and treatment of illnesses; therefore AdvaMed will work with Congress to mitigate the effects of the DRA on these crucial technologies. AdvaMed supports the passage of the Access to Medicare Imaging Act of 2006 (H.R. 5704 and S. 3795) which calls for a two year moratorium on imaging cuts while the General Accounting Office (GAO) conducts a comprehensive study on imaging services.”
CMS made cuts in its inpatient reimbursement rules much less drastic that first expected (see here what AdvaMed had to say about that). It seems the lobbying effort of manufacturers will keep going until most proposals CMS had put on the table this year is rolled back or postponed.
August 10, 2006 Related topics: Legal & legislative