September 11, 2017
In the comment letter to CMS on the proposed 2018 Medicare Physician Fee Schedule, SNMMI recommendations include:
- finalizing the RUC and specialty society recommendations for work and practice expenses for 78300, 78305, and 78306;
- exempting all nuclear medicine- and all DRA-affected imaging services from the proposed 25% reduction;
- exempting carrier-priced services from the 25% reduction and conducting code or family analysis in order to prevent access issues or shifting of care due to insufficient payment rates for important nuclear medicine services;
- allowing practitioners more time to focus on and adjust to the appropriate use criteria mandate to allow for testing in 2018; and
- reducing the regulatory burden on nuclear medicine billing, as the current complexity requires extensive time and training for providers and must also be a burden for Medicare and its contractors.
The comment letter is here, and CMS will publish the final rule around October 1, 2018.