The federal government will reduce rates paid to physicians and hospitals treating patients with cardiovascular diseases and other serious illnesses in an effort to stem the tide in cost overruns in its Pre-Existing Condition Insurance Plan (PCIP).

Use of IMRT to treat prostate cancer, which carries a reimbursement rate approximately 50 percent higher than conformal radiotherapy, skyrocketed from zero in 2000 to 82.1 percent in 2009 among postprostatectomy patients. Despite the swift uptake, IMRT may not provide morbidity benefits among these patients, according to a study published online May 20 in JAMA Internal Medicine.