Public Policy Update - August 2007

ISCD and DXA Task Force Meet with CMS Officials Regarding DXA Cuts

On August 28, 2007 representatives from ISCD, NOF, AACE, TES and ACOG met with CMS officials regarding the damaging affects of the DXA cuts on patient care. ISCD Vice-President Dr. Andrew Laster, AACE President Dr. Richard Hellman and staff from the Lewin Group made a presentation aimed at restoring reimbursement for DXA services to appropriate levels. The timing of the meeting was critical; proposed Medicare rules that will continue the 4-year phase in of cuts to central DXA reimbursement will become final in early November 2007. Public comment regarding the proposed rules were due on August 31. In addition to filing formal written comments, ISCD and our partners wanted to make sure that Medicare officials understood the urgency of the problem. We delivered a clear message to CMS: the cuts will effectively dismantle the osteoporosis care infrastructure in the United States and will undermine Medicare prevention efforts.

The meeting focused on the results of a study regarding the cost of performing DXA in the office setting.  ISCD, AACE, TES and ACRheum commissioned the Lewin Group, a premier Washington health care firm, to perform the study which was conducted in July. 163 respondents representing primary care and specialists who perform DXA in the office or non-facility setting submitted complete responses with detailed confidential financial information. The Lewin Group calculated that the median DXA cost per procedure was $134, far exceeding the current rate of reimbursement. Lewin staff presented the following key findings to CMS officials:

• Eighty-six percent of respondents are not reimbursed adequately for DXA under the 2007 fee schedule.
• No physician will be reimbursed adequately for DXA when reimbursement drops to $35 in 2010.
• Proposed legislation to freeze DXA at 2006 rates ($140) would save Medicare $1.145 billion after taking into consideration the savings associated with avoiding future fractures.

On August 31, 2007, ISCD filed formal comments with CMS regarding the cuts to DXA that began in 20007 and will continue to be phased in over the next four years. Click on the link below to view ISCD's formal comments.  A complete copy of the ISCD comments to CMS can also be found in the Grassroots section of the ISCD Advocacy Web site.  Click here to visit that site now.

Page Last Updated: 12/11/2010

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