CARE Bill Focus Moves to Senate Finance Committee

After the Consistency, Accuracy, Responsibility and Excellence (CARE) Bill was approved recently by the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP) Committee, the CARE Bill Alliance, of which SVU is a member, decided to move their focus to the Senate Finance Committee. The Alliance members are asking the Senate Finance Committee to act by reinserting Section H of the CARE Bill before the Bill heads to the Senate floor for a vote by the entire Senate. Section H of the CARE Bill allows CMS to withhold Medicare reimbursement if the personnel standards are not evidenced by providers. Without Section H there will be no enforcement provision for the CARE Bill and no appreciable cost savings to the Medicare program.

The CARE Bill will ensure that quality information is presented for diagnosis and that medical imaging leads to more accurate diagnosis and treatment of patients. It will reduce health care costs be reducing the number of imaging or radiation procedures that must be repeated due to improper use of equipment, poor technique, or inadequate knowledge.

If the CARE Bill is enacted millions of American patients will benefit from the enhanced quality of medical imaging examinations and increased efficacy of therapeutic treatments through the establishment of technical personnel standards.

Thus, SVU asked its members in 20 states – AR, AZ, CO, IA, ID, KS, KY, MA, ME, MI, MT, ND, NH, NM, NY, NV, OR, UT, WA, and WV – where there are Senators on the Senate Finance Committee to contact their Senators with the following message:

"I am writing to urge you to support and adopt education and credentialing standards for health professionals performing medical imaging and radiation therapy services under the Medicare program. The Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP) Committee has approved legislation (S. 1042) directing the Secretary of HHS to set the medical imaging and radiation therapy personnel standards, and the Senate Finance Committee must now make sure that Medicare payments are linked to those standards. Please incorporate the standards established by S. 1042 into the Medicare program."

Thanks to those many SVU members who responded to our request and sent either emails or faxes to their Senators on the Senate Finance Committee with the message of support for the CARE Bill and the inclusion of Section H.

Currently there are 25 Senate co-sponsors of the CARE Bill (S. 1042). On the House side there are now 144 co-sponsors (one third of all Representatives) of the House version of the CARE Bill (H.R. 583).

SVU will continue to monitor the status of the CARE Bill and keep SVU members informed of our efforts on this important legislation.