CHAMP Bill Could Cut Interventional Radiology Reimbursement by 40% The new Children's Health and Medicare Protection Act (CHAMP) of 2007, designed to extend and expand funding for children's health care under the State Children's Health Insurance Program, could result in reimbursement cuts of up to 40% for interventional radiology procedures performed on Medicare patients. The long-term effects of this legislation call for projected cuts in reimbursement levels by 2017 that could go as high as 41%, after adjusting for inflation. The legislation would enact 21% cuts for procedures including minimally invasive surgeries and 21% cuts for imaging-related surgeries. This current piece of legislation does not recognize the difference between older, more invasive, less targeted therapies (whether major surgeries or minor procedures) and the newer, less invasive, highly targeted therapies that will form the basis of personalized medicine. This legislation divides physician services into different categories, enacting 6 different conversion factors based on these categories or "buckets". The proposed buckets and projected changes in reimbursement are as follows: 1:Primary and preventive 2:Other E/M 3:Surgery 4:Other procedures 5:Anesthesia 6:Imaging 49% -5% 8% -21% 37% -21% The CHAMP Act would also: 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. Expand federal accreditation requirements similar to those that exist for mammography to MRI, CT, PET, nuclear medicine and x-ray. The accreditation requirement would apply to diagnostic ultrasound by 2012. Replace the sustainable growth rate method underlying outpatient Medicare physician payment rate cuts in each of the past three years. It proposes 0.5% rate increases in 2008 and 2009. Not permit global billing for imaging services. Providers would be required to charge separately for the technical and professional components of imaging furnished beginning about 13 months after the law's enactment. Modifies the Medicare payment for imaging involving contiguous body parts. Under current policy, payment covering the technical component of a second consecutive section is reduced by 25%. Proposed legislation would increase the reduction to 50%. Eliminate the additional payments for services provided in specialist care scarcity areas and physician scarcity areas. Currently there is a 5% incentive payment to physicians furnishing services in areas under these classifications. The add-on payments were available for services furnished on or after January 1, 2005 and before January 1, 2008. These incentive payments will no longer be made for services furnished on or after January 1, 2008 unless Congress moves to reauthorize the program.