What ' s brewing in RT and RA legislation, policy, and standards?

A range of federal and state legislation and other developments in the works could have a significant impact on radiologic technologists and registered radiology assistants, either supporting and strengthening these professions or weakening them. For example, the American Society of Radiologic Technologists (ASRT) is working with lawmakers to reintroduce the federal Medicare Access to Radiology Care Act (MARCA) in the current legislative session. Last introduced in June 2021 as HR-3657 and companion SB-2641, MARCA would amend Medicare reimbursement policy for radiologist assistants (RAs) to align reimbursement with state radiologist assistant licensure laws.ASRT President Brandon Smith, MBAIf passed, MARCA would ensure complete Medicare reimbursement for services provided by a radiologist assistant, when supervised by a radiologist as part of a radiologist-led patient care team, regardless of the setting in which the service is performed, according to the ASRT. Written into earlier versions of the act, payments would be made to the supervising radiologist at 85% of the amount paid when the services are furnished by the radiologist. "By not separating radiologist assistant reimbursement policies into different payment categories by service location, the adoption of MARCA would enable radiologists to devote more focused time to reviewing and interpreting complex medical images or urgent cases," the ASRT has said. The language of MARCA has defined a registered radiolog...
Source: AuntMinnie.com Headlines - Category: Radiology Authors: Tags: Industry News Radiologic Technologist Source Type: news