[Congressional Record Volume 153, Number 142 (Monday, September 24, 2007)]
[House]
[Page H10738]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                        MEDICAL IMAGING SERVICES

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under a previous order of the House, the 
gentlewoman from New York (Mrs. McCarthy) is recognized for 5 minutes.
  Mrs. McCARTHY of New York. Mr. Speaker, I rise today and ask my 
colleagues to support legislation reversing the dangerous cuts made to 
medical imaging services by the last Congress.
  The incorporation of imaging technology into medical practice has 
transformed physician practice, patient care, and improved health 
outcomes for millions of Americans.
  Unfortunately, the Deficit Reduction Act last Congress slashed 
funding for imaging services. These dangerous cuts mean that women will 
have difficulty getting a mammogram. Doctors will begin to phase out 
imaging services because the reimbursement rate will cause them to lose 
money.
  While these cuts may have saved the government money, it has 
increased the health risks of our Nation's citizens. Patients 
throughout the United States depend on medical imaging because it often 
detects critical illnesses at their most curable stage when they are 
less costly to treat. Better, less invasive care often means easier 
recoveries and greater patient comfort are additional reasons why 
drastic cuts to medical imaging do not serve the patient well.
  Medical imaging is an overall cost-saver for patients and the health 
care system in general because it results in fewer complications, 
earlier detection, shorter hospital stays, and better pain management.
  Our goal should be keeping our workers healthy and on the job by 
helping them avoid surgery, long recuperation and disability. For this 
reason, significant cuts to medical imaging are not the solution. That 
is why I ask your support and need it for H.R. 1293, Access to Medical 
Care Imaging Act of 2007. My legislation would suspend for 2 years 
drastic cuts to critical diagnostic imaging services provided in 
physicians' offices and imaging centers.
  The cuts were agreed to with little public debate by the U.S. House 
of Representatives, yet they account for more than one-third of the 
Medicare cuts in the Deficit Reduction Act of 2005. Furthermore, as was 
directly pointed out by Members on both sides of the aisle during the 
Energy and Health Subcommittee hearing on July 18 last year, the policy 
was not recommended to Congress by MedPAC or CMS, and there has been no 
analysis of the impact of the cuts on seniors' access to imaging 
services.
  Unfortunately, despite broad bipartisan support in Congress to delay 
the DRA policy, the DRA imaging cuts went into effect in January of 
this year. My legislation would place a 2-year hold on the 
implementation of the cuts and require a comprehensive GAO study on 
patient access and service issues relating to the availability and 
quality of imaging services in physician offices and imaging clinics 
with special attention to seniors living in rural and medically 
underserved areas.
  Please join over 150 of my colleagues and become a cosponsor of H.R. 
1293. People have to understand sometimes the cuts that we make around 
here are not in the best interest certainly of our constituents. 
Spending most of my life as a nurse, preventive care is better than 
letting it go. That is why our health care costs are so high. We need 
to do a better job of making sure that our constituents are served.

                          ____________________