I 112th CONGRESS 1st Session H. R. 3032 IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES September 22, 2011 Mr. Reichert (for himself, Mr. Olson, Mr. Pascrell, and Mr. Matheson) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Energy and Commerce, and in addition to the Committee on Ways and Means, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned A BILL To amend title XVIII of the Social Security Act to provide for payment for services of qualified radiologist assistants under the Medicare program.

1.

Short title

This Act may be cited as the Medicare Access to Radiology Care Act of 2011.

2.

Medicare payment for qualified radiologist assistant services

(a)

Coverage

Section 1861 of the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 1395x) is amended— (1)in subsection (s)(2)(K)— (A)by striking the semicolon at the end of clause (ii) and inserting a comma; and (B)by adding at the end the following new clause: (iii)qualified radiologist assistant services (as defined in subsection (iii)(1)), ; and (2)by adding at the end the following new subsection: (iii)

Qualified Radiologist Assistant Services; Qualified Radiologist Assistant

(1)The term qualified radiologist assistant services means services— (A)performed by a qualified radiologist assistant (as defined in paragraph (2)) as an employee, leased employee, or independent contractor of the supervising radiologist under the supervision (as determined by State law) of a radiologist; and (B)which the radiologist assistant is legally authorized to perform under State law (or the State regulatory mechanism provided by State law). (2)The term qualified radiologist assistant means a radiographer who is certified by the American Registry of Radiologic Technologists as a registered radiologist assistant or by the Certification Board for Radiology Practitioner Assistants as a radiology practitioner assistant to perform radiologic procedures under the supervision (as determined by State law) of a radiologist. . (b)

Payment in relation to physician fee schedule

(1)

Payment level

Section 1833(a)(1)(O) of such Act (42 U.S.C. 1395l(a)(1)(O)) is amended by inserting or qualified radiologist assistant services after or clinic nurse specialists. (2)

Payment to supervising radiologist

The first sentence of section 1842(b)(6) of such Act (42 U.S.C. 1395u(b)(6)) is amended— (A)by striking and before (H); and (B)by inserting before the period at the end the following: , and (I) in the case of qualified radiologist assistant services, the payment shall be made to the supervising radiologist. (3)

Rules of construction

Nothing in this section, or the amendments made by this section, shall be construed as affecting— (A)coverage of and payment for the technical component (including the technical component of a global fee) with respect to imaging services under title XVIII of the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 1395 et seq.) as in effect before the date of the enactment of this Act; or (B)the amount of payment made for physicians’ services under such title when furnished solely by a radiologist. (c)

Review and report

The Secretary of Health and Human Services shall conduct a review of the effect of the amendments made by this section on patient satisfaction and on the clinical and operational effectiveness of the use of radiologist assistants pursuant to such amendments, and shall submit to Congress not later than January 1, 2016, a report to Congress on such review. (d)

Effective date

The amendments made by this section shall apply to services furnished on or after January 1, 2012.