Senators Introduce Bill to Stabilize Radiologist Pay in Medicare Program
A bipartisan group of U.S. Senators has introduced the Provider Reimbursement Stability Act, aimed at stabilizing pay for radiologists and other physicians under the Medicare program. The bill, announced on July 30, seeks to address the issue of declining Medicare pay for physicians, which has reportedly fallen by approximately 33% since 2001 when adjusted for inflation. The legislation proposes to reduce significant year-to-year payment fluctuations caused by budget neutrality requirements and to more accurately reflect changes in practice expenses. The bill is co-sponsored by Senators John Boozman, Peter Welch, Roger Marshall, Angus King, Thom Tillis, and Jeanne Shaheen. A companion bill has also been introduced in the House by Rep. Greg Murphy and other lawmakers. The American College of Radiology and a coalition of medical groups have expressed support for the bill, which aims to increase the budget neutrality threshold and index it to the Medicare Economic Index to account for rising practice costs. 
