Trends in Medicare Imaging Services
A new Government Accountability Office (GAO) report reviews the impact of a Deficit Reduction Act of 2005 (DRA) provision capping Medicare fees for certain imaging services covered by the physician fee schedule at the rate for these services under Medicare’s hospital outpatient prospective payment system (OPPS). The GAO found that the OPPS cap reduced the fee for the performance of about one in four physician imaging tests overall in 2007, and fees for advanced tests were more likely than other imaging tests to be paid at the OPPS rate. Moreover, the GAO found that from 2000 through 2006 both expenditures for and utilization of Medicare physician imaging services increased, but in 2007 expenditures declined while per-beneficiary utilization continued to rise.
