[Congressional Bills 117th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 3657 Introduced in House (IH)]
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117th CONGRESS
1st Session
H. R. 3657
To amend title XVIII of the Social Security Act to provide for payment
for services of radiologist assistants under the Medicare program, and
for other purposes.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
June 1, 2021
Mr. Michael F. Doyle of Pennsylvania (for himself and Mr. Curtis)
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 radiologist assistants under the Medicare program, and
for other purposes.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the
United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the ``Medicare Access to Radiology Care
Act of 2021''.
SEC. 2. MEDICARE PAYMENT FOR RADIOLOGIST ASSISTANT SERVICES.
(a) In General.--Section 1834 of the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C.
1395m) is amended by adding at the end the following new subsection:
``(z) Payment for Certain Radiologist Assistant Services.--
``(1) Payment.--
``(A) In general.--In the case of radiologist
assistant services (as defined in subparagraph (B))
furnished on or after January 1, 2021, for which
payment is made under the fee schedules established
under section 1848, the amount of payment for such
services shall equal 85 percent of the amount
determined under section 1848 for such services when
furnished by a radiologist.
``(B) Definitions.--In this subsection:
``(i) Radiologist assistant services.--The
term `radiologist assistant services' means
services furnished as an incident to a
radiologists' professional service--
``(I) performed by a radiologist
assistant (as defined in clause (ii))
under the supervision of a radiologist
as an employee of, a leased employee
of, or an independent contractor of the
supervising radiologist; and
``(II) which the radiologist
assistant is legally authorized to
perform under State law (or the State
regulatory mechanism provided by State
law).
``(ii) Radiologist assistant.--The term
`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 of
a radiologist.
``(2) Payment in facility settings.--
``(A) In general.--The Secretary shall provide for
payment for radiologist assistant services in a
facility setting furnished on or after January 1, 2022.
Payment shall be made to the supervising radiologist.
``(B) Payment amount.--The amount of payment for
radiologist assistant services furnished in a facility
setting shall be the amount determined under paragraph
(1).
``(C) Facility setting defined.--In this paragraph,
the term `facility setting' means--
``(i) a hospital or critical access
hospital;
``(ii) an ambulatory surgical center; and
``(iii) such other providers of services as
the Secretary may specify.
``(3) Rules of construction.--Nothing in this subsection
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 this
title as in effect before the date of the enactment of
this Act;
``(B) the amount of payment made for radiologists'
services under this title when furnished solely by a
radiologist; or
``(C) the amount of payment made under this title
for services furnished by a hospital, critical access
hospital, ambulatory surgical center or any other
facility setting specified by the Secretary under
paragraph (2)(C)(iii), as the case may be.''.
(b) Conforming Amendment for Payment to Supervising Radiologist.--
The first sentence of section 1842(b)(6) of such Act (42 U.S.C.
1395u(b)(6)) is amended--
(1) by striking ``and'' before ``(J)''; and
(2) by inserting before the period at the end the
following: ``, and (K) in the case of radiologist assistant
services (as defined in section 1834(z)(1)(B)(i)), payment
shall be made to the supervising radiologist''.
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