The final version of the 2020 Medicare Physician Fee Schedule ultimately did not include alarming proposals to cut technical component payments for myocardial PET by as much as 80 percent for some services. Concerted efforts by members of the ACC and other CV specialty societies to contact members of Congress and submit pricing information for supplies and equipment were pivotal in forestalling these dramatic cuts that threatened to disrupt practices and patient access to PET services.

One driver of the proposed cuts was a decision by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) to assume a 90-percent utilization rate for PET cameras, an assumption that was reconsidered and revised to a 50 percent utilization rate. Pricing information for other equipment was also refined, though additional information could still inform future updates. To that end, the ACC encourages members who were not able to submit pricing documentation prior to the final 2020 rule, to submit information now to help inform the 2021 rulemaking process. If you've installed a PET or PET-CT system in the past several years, email ACC Director of Regulatory Affairs James Vavricek at jvavricek@acc.org with deidentified paid invoices for the equipment you purchased by Jan. 15.

Clinical Topics: Cardiovascular Care Team, Noninvasive Imaging, Computed Tomography, Nuclear Imaging

Keywords: ACC Advocacy, Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, U.S., Medicare, Medicaid, Electronic Mail, Positron-Emission Tomography

< Back to Listings