In This Section
SNMMI Comments on CMS's Proposed Physician Fee Schedule for 2018
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.