Combined House reform bill may cost imaging $4.3 billion

(DIAGNOSTIC IMAGING) -- Healthcare reform legislation from the House of Representatives, announced Thursday by Speaker Nancy Pelosi, is ready to go to members for discussion and a vote. The bill would cut Medicare payment rates for advanced imaging while establishing a 2.5% surcharge on the purchase price of new imaging equipment. The $894 billion package combines provisions from three bills approved separately by House committees this summer. Provisions in those preliminary bills that were opposed by imaging proponents appear in the combined 1900-page proposal. The bill would increase the presumed utilization rate for advanced imaging from the current 50% to 75% for Medicare reimbursement. It would also double Medicare's outpatient imaging discount for technical payments from 25% to 50% for consecutive anatomy examined with CT, MRI, or PET.

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