CMS’ Final 2010 Fee Schedule Will Hurt Some Device Sectors

Cardiac device and imaging equipment manufacturers hope Congress will revise the 2010 Medicare Fee Schedule before it takes effect Jan. 1 because its fee cuts for services involving their products will reduce sales. The cardiac industry is expecting a 30 percent to 40 percent cut in the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) payments over the next four years because of the rule, Jack Lewin, an internist and president and CEO of the American College of Cardiology, said. The schedule would reduce payments for pelvic CTs done in non-hospital-based practices by 48 percent and for chest-spine MRIs by 46 percent, according to the Access to Medical Imaging Coalition.
Devices & Diagnostics Letter