Kansas R.T. Action Needed -

CARE bill & Federal RA Reimbursement bill introduced in House of Representatives !

I was recently in Washington D.C. with fellow Radiologic technologists at R.T. in D.C. to promote a couple pieces of legislature. After our visits, we had some movement on both bills:

CARE Bill Introduced in 113th Congress
Mar 15, 2013
Rep. Ed Whitfield, R-Ky., introduced the Consistency, Accuracy, Responsibility and Excellence in Medical Imaging and Radiation Therapy bill in the House of Representatives on March 13, marking the eighth time the bill has been introduced in the House in the past 13 years.
H.R. 1146 would set federal education and certification standards in the Medicare program for the technical personnel providing, planning and delivering all medical imaging examinations and radiation therapy treatments.
Introduction of the CARE bill is one tactic toward achieving federal minimum standards. The American Society of Radiologic Technologists also is pursuing the insertion of amendatory language that incorporates the CARE bill's principles into any federal bill that includes Medicare provisions. This includes bills addressing sequestration, the debt ceiling and entitlement reform.

Federal RA Reimbursement Bill Introduced
Mar 15, 2013
The Medicare Access to Radiology Care Act, H.R. 1148, was introduced in the U.S. House of Representatives on March 14. The legislation would allow facilities to bill Medicare for medical imaging services performed by qualified radiologist assistants under the direction of a supervising radiologist.
Introduced by Reps. Dave Reichert, R-Wash.; Jim Matheson, D-Utah; Pete Olson, R-Texas; and Bill Pascrell, D-N.J., H.R. 1148 would set standards within the Medicare program for services provided by radiology physician extenders, reduce existing RA supervision restrictions and allow facilities to be reimbursed for the services RAs perform at 85 percent of the existing physician fee schedule rate.

I encourage everyone to contact your representatives to support these bills. If you have any questions please feel free to contact Toni Caldwell: mmcaldwell@aol.com.

Sincerely,

Toni Caldwell BS, RT(R)
KSRT Legislative Chair
ASRT Committee on R.T. Advocacy
913-583-1315
mmcaldwell@aol.com