New data from the largest study to date examining the efficacy of computed tomographic colonography (CTC) for Americans ages 65 and older proves that “virtual colonoscopy” is comparably effective to standard colonoscopy in detecting colorectal cancer and precancerous polyps in Medicare-eligible aged beneficiaries. Read More
In a study released last week, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) found that goals for cancer screening rates in the U.S. are not being reached. Read More
Last week, The New York Times and The Atlantic published misleading articles that omitted central facts about the effectiveness and use of medical imaging. Read More
Last week, ten members in the House of Representatives sent a bipartisan letter urging Speaker John Boehner (R-OH) and Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) to prevent further imaging cuts to Medicare. Read More
HR 3269, the Diagnostic Imaging Services Protection Act of 2011 was introduced yesterday to prevent imaging cuts to Medicare. Read More
President Obama’s plan to reduce the deficit contains $320 billion in healthcare savings over 10 years including payment cuts to medical imaging. Read More
In a letter sent to the White House earlier this week, a bipartisan group of senators let by Sens. Kerry and Kohl “urged President Barack Obama to reject calls for deeper Medicare cuts for medical imaging services.” Read More
MITA thanks members of the Senate Finance Committee for removing a provision in the Trade Adjustment Assistance bill that would reduce Medicare reimbursement for imaging procedures. Read More
Yesterday, the Senate Finance Committee decided to put senior citizens’ access to life-saving imaging, such as CTs and MRIs, at risk by proposing severe and arbitrary medical imaging reimbursement cuts to pay for the implementation of unrelated trade bills. Read More
With MedPAC confirming that the growth of advanced imaging is flat, MITA called on Congress to reject Medicare Payment Advisory Commission (MedPAC) recommendations to reduce reimbursements for medical imaging and other provisions that will curtail access to life-saving diagnostic and therapeutic medical imaging. Read More
MITA released a report yesterday detailing the troubling impact of insurance coverage denials on patient access to medical imaging procedures. Data gathered by the Patient Advocacy Foundation (PAF) show that denials for patients seeking potentially life-saving medical imaging services have doubled in the past four years. Of even greater concern is the finding that 90 percent of the reversed denials for imaging services were actually covered by patients’ health plans. And on average, PAF’s professional case managers required 15.4 contacts per patient case to resolve the imaging issue, meaning it took on average more than 15 phone calls, letters or emails to determine why the imaging test was being denied coverage. Read More
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- CDC
- Colonoscopy
- Colorectal Cancer
- CTC
- Medicare
- President Obama
- Radiology
- Reimbursement
- Research
- Screening
- Univeristy of Wisconsin
- Walter Reed
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