Washington, D.C. –  The Medical Imaging & Technology Alliance (MITA) today submitted a comment letter to the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) opposing plans to calculate reimbursements using separate cost centers for computed tomography (CT) and magnetic resonance (MR) imaging that were included in the hospital outpatient prospective payment system (OPPS) and calendar year (CY 2014) rates proposed rule.

“The proposed policy results in payments that lack face validity and will result in absurd reimbursement rates by which CMS would pay hospitals nearly the same rate for advanced CT imaging as it would for X-ray,” said Gail Rodriguez, executive director of MITA. “Not only is this proposed payment model fundamentally flawed, but it will result in additional cuts to Medicare reimbursement for medical imaging that will further threaten patient access to these life-saving technologies.”

In the comment letter, MITA notes that separate cost centers do not accurately capture the total costs of providing these advanced imaging services. Additionally, MITA states that the payment model will result in inaccurate payment rates and substantial Medicare reimbursement cuts for these imaging modalities in the hospital setting.

Just last week, the Advisory Panel on Hospital Outpatient Payment (HOP Panel) also expressed concern, and publicly recommended that CMS delay implementation of CY2014 proposals until data and analyses can be reviewed. The HOP panel vote was unanimous in favor of the recommendation so that the interactions and cumulative impact of these policies are fully understood.

“Given that CT and MRI services are capital-intensive, and that allocation of capital costs within the cost reports is complex and prone to error, MITA urges CMS to heed the HOP Panel’s recommendation to hold on implementation of the proposal until the data can be further reviewed,” said Rodriguez.

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The Medical Imaging & Technology Alliance (MITA), a division of NEMA, is the collective voice of medical imaging equipment, radiation therapy and radiopharmaceutical manufacturers, innovators and product developers. It represents companies whose sales comprise more than 90 percent of the global market for medical imaging technology. For more information, visit www.medicalimaging.org. Follow MITA on Twitter @MITAToday.