Following CMS, Aetna & United slash multi-procedure reimbursements
National payors Aetna and United Healthcare will both cut technical component payments for multiple procedures by 50 percent across modalities, couching their decisions in terms of similar cuts made by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) in January.
The American College of Radiology (ACR) reported that, effective June 1, United Healthcare will reduce by half its payments for second or subsequent imaging procedures performed in a single patient visit. Following its implementation of a similar policy applying to technical and global claims for CT, MRI and ultrasound that took effect Feb. 1, Aetna announced that it will expand its own 50 percent payment cuts across modalities and will also include non-contiguous body parts in the reductions.
The ACR said it will continue to oppose the cuts, calling United’s policy “arbitrary and not supported by medical data.”
The American College of Radiology (ACR) reported that, effective June 1, United Healthcare will reduce by half its payments for second or subsequent imaging procedures performed in a single patient visit. Following its implementation of a similar policy applying to technical and global claims for CT, MRI and ultrasound that took effect Feb. 1, Aetna announced that it will expand its own 50 percent payment cuts across modalities and will also include non-contiguous body parts in the reductions.
The ACR said it will continue to oppose the cuts, calling United’s policy “arbitrary and not supported by medical data.”