Medicare proposes changes for imaging, tests
June 30th, 2008 | by admin |WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. government on Monday proposed payment changes in the Medicare health insurance program that could affect use of medical imaging and diagnostic testing services, among other health services.
Among the changes proposed are an expansion of diagnostic imaging services for which the program will trim payment when multiple procedures are done on the same patient.
The wide-ranging, 834-page proposal is an annual update to how Medicare pays for the treatment of 44 million elderly and disabled individuals in the federal health plan.
The U.S. Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, which runs Medicare and also the Medicaid program for the needy, is expected to spend nearly $800 billion on health care services this year.
Spending on medical imaging services, which include traditional X-rays and more sophisticated magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), has been rising faster than overall Medicare, and has become a target of payers trying to contain runaway health care costs.
The biggest medical imaging companies are General Electric Co, Philips and Siemens AG.
The proposal will also likely affect payment for free-standing radiation therapy, dialysis, and pathology lab tests, according to analysts.
The Medicare proposal also would require doctors who perform diagnostic tests to be subject to certain performance standards.
“We are proposing these changes to ensure that our payment systems are updated to reflect changes in medical practice and the relative value of services,” the document said.
