II 

116TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 1544 

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 SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

MAY 20, 2019 

Mr. BOOZMAN (for himself, Mr. CASEY, Mr. DAINES, and Mr. TESTER) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Finance 

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’’. 

6 SEC. 2. MEDICARE PAYMENT FOR RADIOLOGIST ASSISTANT 

7 SERVICES. 

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

9 Act (42 U.S.C. 1395x) is amended— 


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1 (1) in subsection (s)(2)(K)— 

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

3 clause (ii) and inserting a comma; and 

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

5 clause: 

6 ‘‘(iii) radiologist assistant services (as 

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

8 (2) by adding at the end the following new sub9 section: 

10 ‘‘Radiologist Assistant Services; Radiologist Assistant 

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

12 means services— 

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

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

15 a radiologist as an employee, leased employee, or 

16 independent contractor of the supervising radiolo17 gist; and 

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

19 authorized to perform under State law (or the State 

20 regulatory mechanism provided by State law). 

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

22 radiographer who is certified by the American Registry of 

23 Radiologic Technologists as a registered radiologist assist24 ant or by the Certification Board for Radiology Practi25 tioner Assistants as a radiology practitioner assistant to 


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1 perform radiologic procedures under the supervision of a 

2 radiologist.’’. 

3 (b) PAYMENT IN RELATION TO PHYSICIAN FEE

4 SCHEDULE.— 

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

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

7 by inserting ‘‘, or radiologist assistant services’’ 

8 after ‘‘or clinic nurse specialists’’. 

9 (2) APPLICATION OF FEE SCHEDULE IN HOS10 PITAL, AMBULATORY SURGICAL CENTER SET11 TINGS.—Section 1848(a) of such Act (42 U.S.C. 

12 1395w–4(a)) is amended by adding at the end the 

13 following new paragraph: 

14 ‘‘(10) APPLICATION OF FEE SCHEDULE FOR

15 RADIOLOGIST ASSISTANT SERVICES IN HOSPITAL, 

16 AMBULATORY SURGICAL CENTER SETTINGS.— 

17 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—In the case of radiolo18 gist assistant services (as defined in section 

19 1861(kkk)(1)) furnished in a facility setting (as 

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

21 services furnished in such setting shall be made 

22 to the supervising radiologist in an amount de23 termined pursuant to section 1833(a)(1)(O). 


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1 ‘‘(B) FACILITY SETTING DEFINED.—In 

2 this paragraph, the term ‘facility setting’ 

3 means— 

4 ‘‘(i) a hospital or critical access hos5 pital; 

6 ‘‘(ii) an ambulatory surgical center; 

7 and 

8 ‘‘(iii) such other providers of services 

9 as the Secretary may specify.’’. 

10 (3) PAYMENT TO SUPERVISING RADIOLOGIST.— 

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

12 (42 U.S.C. 1395u(b)(6)) is amended— 

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

14 (B) by inserting before the period at the 

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

16 services described in clause (iii) of section 

17 1861(s)(2)(K) (relating to radiologist assistant 

18 services), payment shall be made to the super19 vising radiologist’’. 

20 (4) RULES OF CONSTRUCTION.—Nothing in 

21 this section, or the amendments made by this sec22 tion, shall be construed as affecting— 

23 (A) coverage of and payment for the tech24 nical component (including the technical compo25 nent of a global fee) with respect to imaging 


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1 services under title XVIII of the Social Security 

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

3 the date of the enactment of this Act; 

4 (B) the amount of payment made for phy5 sicians’ services under such title when furnished 

6 solely by a radiologist; or 

7 (C) the amount of payment made under 

8 such title for services furnished by a hospital, 

9 critical access hospital, ambulatory surgical cen10 ter, or any other facility setting specified by the 

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

12 the Social Security Act (as added by paragraph 

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

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

15 this section shall apply to services furnished on or after 

16 January 1, 2020. 

Æ 


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