II 

111TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. 3527 

To amend title XVIII of the Social Security Act to ensure access to chest 

radiography (x-ray) services that use Computer-Aided Detection for the 

purpose of early detection of lung cancer. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

JUNE 24, 2010 

Mr. BROWN of Ohio 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 ensure 

access to chest radiography (x-ray) services that use 

Computer-Aided Detection for the purpose of early detection of lung cancer. 

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 Lung Cancer 

5 Early Detection Promotion Act of 2010’’. 

6 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

7 Congress makes the following findings: 


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1 (1) Lung cancer accounts for more deaths than 

2 any other cancer in both men and women. 

3 (2) According to the American Cancer Soci4 ety— 

5 (A) an estimated 222,520 new cases of 

6 lung cancer are expected in 2010, accounting 

7 for about 15 percent of cancer diagnoses in 

8 2010; and 

9 (B) an estimated 157,300 deaths from 

10 lung cancer are expected to occur in 2010, ac11 counting for about 28 percent of all cancer 

12 deaths in 2010. 

13 (3) In the United States today, one in four can14 cer deaths in women is due to lung cancer. 

15 (4) African-Americans have a higher occurrence 

16 of lung cancer than any other racial or ethnic group 

17 in the United States, and Black men are 37 percent 

18 more likely to get lung cancer than White men. 

19 (5) Two-thirds of all lung cancer cases are 

20 among people 65 years and older. 

21 (6) Computer-Aided Detection (CAD) tech22 nology, when used on a common chest x-ray, can 

23 help detect lung cancer in its earliest and most 

24 treatable stages. 


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1 (7) Clinical trials have shown that radiologists 

2 are able to detect more early-stage lung cancer with 

3 chest x-ray CAD technology than with chest x-rays 

4 alone. 

5 (8) In 2007, the Centers for Medicare & Med6 icaid Services Advisory Panel on Ambulatory Pay7 ment Classification Groups recommended payment 

8 for chest x-ray CAD technology as a special pack9 aged code, meaning that it would be paid separately 

10 when performed by itself. The Centers for Medicare 

11 & Medicaid Services did not heed this recommenda12 tion and continues to bundle the CAD technology 

13 with the chest x-ray. 

14 SEC. 3. ENSURING ACCESS UNDER THE MEDICARE PRO15 GRAM TO X-RAY BASED CHEST RADIOGRAPHY 

16 THAT USES COMPUTER-AIDED DETECTION 

17 TECHNOLOGY. 

18 Section 1834 of the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 

19 1395m), as amended by sections 4105 and 10501(h)(3) 

20 of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, is 

21 amended— 

22 (1) in subsection (b)(1)(B), by striking ‘‘sub23 section (c)(1)(A)’’ and inserting ‘‘subsections 

24 (c)(1)(A) and (p)’’; and 


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1 (2) by adding at the end the following new sub2 section: 

3 ‘‘(p) PAYMENT FOR X-RAY BASED CHEST RADIOG4 RAPHY SERVICES THAT USE COMPUTER-AIDED DETEC5 TION TECHNOLOGY FOR THE EARLY DETECTION OF

6 LUNG CANCER.— 

7 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Notwithstanding any other 

8 provision of this part, with respect to chest radiog9 raphy services (identified as of September 1, 2006, 

10 by Level 1 HCPCS codes 71010, 71020, 71021, 

11 71022, and 71030, and as subsequently modified by 

12 the Secretary) furnished on or after January 1, 

13 2011, that use Computer-Aided Detection Tech14 nology for the early detection of lung cancer (as de15 fined in paragraph (2)), the amount of payment 

16 shall be equal to an amount established by the Sec17 retary for the technical component and the profes18 sional component of the chest radiography services 

19 that use such technology. The Secretary shall estab20 lish such payment amount in a manner that will en21 sure appropriate access under this title to such serv22 ices that use such technology. 

23 ‘‘(2) COMPUTER-AIDED DETECTION TECH24 NOLOGY FOR THE EARLY DETECTION OF LUNG CAN25 CER DEFINED.—In this subsection, the term ‘ComVerDate Mar 15 2010 05:06 Jun 25, 2010 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S3527.IS S3527

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1 puter-Aided Detection Technology for the early de2 tection of lung cancer’ means a computer software 

3 technology which allows for the production of a dig4 ital chest x-ray image or the conversion of a chest 

5 x-ray into a digital image to be subsequently ana6 lyzed for early lung cancer nodules and which the 

7 Food and Drug Administration has granted approval 

8 or clearance. 

9 ‘‘(3) NEW CODES.—The Secretary shall estab10 lish new codes for chest radiography services de11 scribed in paragraph (1) in order to implement this 

12 subsection.’’. 

Æ 


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