I 

116TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 1970 

To amend title XVIII of the Social Security Act to provide for payment 

for services of radiologist assistants under the Medicare program, and 

for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

MARCH 28, 2019 

Mr. MICHAEL F. DOYLE of Pennsylvania (for himself, Mr. OLSON, Mr. KIND, 

Mr. GIANFORTE, Mr. SARBANES, and Ms. SEWELL of Alabama) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Energy 

and Commerce, and in addition to the Committee on Ways and Means, 

for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case 

for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the 

committee concerned 

A BILL 

To amend title XVIII of the Social Security Act to provide 

for payment for services of radiologist assistants under 

the Medicare program, and for other purposes. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Medicare Access to 

5 Radiology Care Act of 2019’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. MEDICARE PAYMENT FOR RADIOLOGIST ASSISTANT 

2 SERVICES. 

3 (a) COVERAGE.—Section 1861 of the Social Security 

4 Act (42 U.S.C. 1395x) is amended— 

5 (1) in subsection (s)(2)(K)— 

6 (A) by striking the semicolon at the end of 

7 clause (ii) and inserting a comma; and 

8 (B) by adding at the end the following new 

9 clause: 

10 ‘‘(iii) radiologist assistant services (as 

11 defined in subsection (kkk)(1));’’; and 

12 (2) by adding at the end the following new sub13 section: 

14 ‘‘Radiologist Assistant Services; Radiologist Assistant 

15 ‘‘(kkk)(1) The term ‘radiologist assistant services’ 

16 means services— 

17 ‘‘(A) performed by a radiologist assistant (as 

18 defined in paragraph (2)) under the supervision of 

19 a radiologist as an employee, leased employee, or 

20 independent contractor of the supervising radiolo21 gist; and 

22 ‘‘(B) which the radiologist assistant is legally 

23 authorized to perform under State law (or the State 

24 regulatory mechanism provided by State law). 

25 ‘‘(2) The term ‘radiologist assistant’ means a 

26 radiographer who is certified by the American Registry of 


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1 Radiologic Technologists as a registered radiologist assist2 ant or by the Certification Board for Radiology Practi3 tioner Assistants as a radiology practitioner assistant to 

4 perform radiologic procedures under the supervision of a 

5 radiologist.’’. 

6 (b) PAYMENT IN RELATION TO PHYSICIAN FEE

7 SCHEDULE.— 

8 (1) PAYMENT LEVEL.—Section 1833(a)(1)(O) 

9 of such Act (42 U.S.C. 1395l(a)(1)(O)) is amended 

10 by striking ‘‘or clinic nurse specialists’’ and inserting 

11 ‘‘clinic nurse specialists, or radiologist assistant serv12 ices’’. 

13 (2) APPLICATION OF FEE SCHEDULE IN HOS14 PITAL, AMBULATORY SURGICAL CENTER SET15 TINGS.—Section 1848(a) of such Act (42 U.S.C. 

16 1395w–4(a)) is amended by adding at the end the 

17 following new paragraph: 

18 ‘‘(10) APPLICATION OF FEE SCHEDULE FOR

19 RADIOLOGIST ASSISTANT SERVICES IN HOSPITAL, 

20 AMBULATORY SURGICAL CENTER SETTINGS.— 

21 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—In the case of radiolo22 gist assistant services (as defined in section 

23 1861(kkk)(1)) furnished in a facility setting (as 

24 defined in subparagraph (B)), payment for such 

25 services furnished in such setting shall be made 


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1 to the supervising radiologist in an amount de2 termined pursuant to section 1833(a)(1)(O). 

3 ‘‘(B) FACILITY SETTING DEFINED.—In 

4 this paragraph, the term ‘facility setting’ 

5 means— 

6 ‘‘(i) a hospital or critical access hos7 pital; 

8 ‘‘(ii) an ambulatory surgical center; 

9 and 

10 ‘‘(iii) such other providers of services 

11 as the Secretary may specify.’’. 

12 (3) PAYMENT TO SUPERVISING RADIOLOGIST.— 

13 The first sentence of section 1842(b)(6) of such Act 

14 (42 U.S.C. 1395u(b)(6)) is amended— 

15 (A) by striking ‘‘and’’ before ‘‘(J)’’; and 

16 (B) by inserting before the period at the 

17 end the following: ‘‘, and (K) in the case of 

18 services described in clause (iii) of section 

19 1861(s)(2)(K) (relating to radiologist assistant 

20 services), payment shall be made to the super21 vising radiologist’’. 

22 (4) RULES OF CONSTRUCTION.—Nothing in 

23 this section, or the amendments made by this sec24 tion, shall be construed as affecting— 


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1 (A) coverage of and payment for the tech2 nical component (including the technical compo3 nent of a global fee) with respect to imaging 

4 services under title XVIII of the Social Security 

5 Act (42 U.S.C. 1395 et seq.) as in effect before 

6 the date of the enactment of this Act; 

7 (B) the amount of payment made for phy8 sicians’ services under such title when furnished 

9 solely by a radiologist; or 

10 (C) the amount of payment made under 

11 such title for services furnished by a hospital, 

12 critical access hospital, ambulatory surgical cen13 ter or any other facility setting specified by the 

14 Secretary under section 1848(a)(10)(B)(iii) of 

15 the Social Security Act (as added by paragraph 

16 (3)), as the case may be. 

17 (c) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendments made by 

18 this section shall apply to services furnished on or after 

19 January 1, 2020. 

Æ 


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