Deficit Reduction Act Affects Medicare Patients

A recent study done for the Access to Medical Imaging Coalition (AMIC) by the Moran Group found that the Deficit Reduction Act of 2005 will cause physician offices and independent imaging centers to be paid under the estimated cost to perform medical imaging procedures due to the act causing the Medicare reimbursement rates to drop.
AMIC Executive Director Tim Trysla said that the report confirms what had been widely suspected after the act’s cuts were passed. "These cuts are extreme, and they will unquestionably change how, where, and if Medicare patients get the imaging services they need," said Trysla.  "You cannot cut MRI of the brain by 49 percent, ultrasound for prostate cancer by 72 percent, or CT for abdominal aortic aneurysms by 52 percent without affecting patients."