Senator Herb Kohl is joined by Senators Kennedy, Feinstein, Dodd and more than twenty other senators
to urge Senate Finance Committee leaders to oppose cuts to coverage for life-saving technologies
like MRI, CT, PET, DEXAscans and ultrasound
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Tim Trysla
(202) 756-3420
Washington, DC - November 8, 2007 - Senator Herb Kohl (D-WI) was joined by senior senators Edward Kennedy (D-MA); Diane Feinstein (D-CA), Norm Coleman (R-MN) and Christopher Dodd (D-CT), and more than 20 of their colleagues in urging senators Max Baucus (D-MT) and Charles Grassley (R-IA), chairman and ranking member, respectively, of the Senate Finance Committee, to oppose additional cuts to medical imaging, including those proposed by the U.S. House of Representatives. Other Members who signed on include Senate Finance Committee members Ken Salazar (D-CO), Mike Crapo (R-ID), Maria Cantwell (D-WA) and Jim Bunning (R-KY).
"I am tremendously grateful that more than one-third of the Senate is taking a stand to ensure continued access to imaging," said Tim Trysla, executive director of the Access to Medical Imaging Coalition (AMIC), a coalition representing more than 75,000 physicians and providers, as well as numerous patient advocacy groups throughout the United States. "The proposed imaging cuts will be devastating to patients in this country, especially seniors who already have a tough time getting around and would have to rely on public transportation, a family member or a neighbor to reach the nearest hospital that could be hours away."
The Access to Medicare Imaging Act of 2007 is a bill introduced earlier this year by senators John D. Rockefeller IV (D-WV) and Gordon H. Smith (R-OR). The bill calls for a two-year moratorium on the cuts imposed by DRA, so that the Government Accountability Office can complete a study on specific outcomes of the Medicare cuts to medical imaging.
"All we are asking is that Congress wait to see exactly what kind of impact the first round of Deficit Reduction cuts are having on the quality of care before it starts slashing vital medical services again," said Trysla.
The latest round of proposed cuts are part of H.R. 3162 (the House Children's Health and Medicare Protection Act) and would reduce Medicare services by billions for medical imaging technologies that are instrumental to detecting diseases especially critical to America's seniors, including cancer, cardiovascular disease and osteoporosis.
Medicare coverage for imaging previously took more than $13 billion in cuts as part of the Deficit Reduction Act of 2005, which was implemented in January 2007. This resulted in an 18 to 19 percent reduction in payments for imaging services provided in physician offices and imaging centers.
"It is indisputable that medical imaging services are proven effective at diagnosing and treating serious diseases, from cancer to heart disease to osteoporosis," said Andrew Whitman, vice president of the Medical Imaging & Technology Alliance, a member of AMIC. "If Congress is serious about saving lives and health care costs, it would protect Medicare coverage of medical imaging, because prevention and early detection is far less expensive than catching and treating a disease after it's too late."
Following are the senators who have signed Senator Kohl's letter to Senators Baucus and Grassley:
Jim Bunning (R-KY)
Richard Burr (R-NC)
Maria Cantwell (D-WA)
Ben Cardin (D-MD)
Robert Casey (D-PA)
Saxby Chambliss (R-GA)
Thad Cochran (R-MS)
Norm Coleman (R-MN)
Susan Collins (R-ME)
John Cornyn (R-TX)
Mike Crapo (R-ID)
Chris Dodd (D-CT)
Richard Durbin (D-IL)
Russ Feingold (D-WI)
Dianne Feinstein (D-CA)
Tom Harkin (D-IA)
Johnny Isakson (R-GA)
Tim Johnson (D-SD)
Edward Kennedy (D-MA)
Amy Klobuchar (D-MN)
Frank Lautenberg (D-NJ)
Robert Menendez (D-NJ)
Patty Murray (D-WA)
Ben Nelson (D-NE)
Mark Pryor (D-AR)
Ken Salazar (D-CO)
Arlen Specter (R-PA)
David Vitter (R-LA)
John Warner (R-VA)
For more information, please visit www.imagingaccess.org.