The Medical Imaging & Technology Alliance (MITA), Advanced Medical Technology Association (AdvaMed) and the Medical Device Manufacturers Association (MDMA) today announced their collective support for the continued bipartisan efforts to repeal the 2.3 percent medical device excise tax.

It’s no secret that the cost of imaging varies widely across the country and even within communities. Now, a Northern California public media outlet is asking its audience to help track MRI prices.

It’s no secret that radiology has been in the crosshairs of policymakers aiming to cut healthcare costs. The Fiscal Times took a stab at summing up the main drivers in imaging costs—and how to bring those costs down—in a recent article.

The Access to Medical Imaging Coalition (AMIC) today said that it opposes the severe hospital outpatient payment reductions for diagnostic imaging services outlined in Medicare Payment Advisory Commission’s (MedPAC) testimony at today’s Energy & Commerce (E&C) Committee hearing. 

Earlier this month, the release of massive amounts of Medicare payment information jolted healthcare and spurred countless articles analyzing the payments being made to physicians.

Drastic reimbursement cuts for image-guided breast biopsies and other medical imaging techniques in the 2014 Medicare Fee Schedule Final Rule may further reduce women’s access to mammography and other breast cancer services. The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) directly cut imaging reimbursement every year since 2007. This, along with 12 Medicare imaging cuts in the last six years due to legislation, increasingly threatens patient care.

Due to legislative reform, demographic change and rising prosperity, demand for healthcare services is rising across the world, fueling the requirement for up-to-date medical equipment that plays an indispensable role in the provision of high quality healthcare. This is, however, exerting considerable financial strain on the European healthcare systems where a proportion of medical equipment is currently out-of-date and needs to be urgently replaced.

The Medical Imaging & Technology Alliance (MITA) today submitted a comment letter to the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) opposing plans to calculate reimbursements using separate cost centers for computed tomography (CT) and magnetic resonance (MR) imaging that were included in the hospital outpatient prospective payment system (OPPS) and calendar year (CY 2014) rates proposed rule.