I 

112TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 3032 

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

for services of qualified radiologist assistants under the Medicare program. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

SEPTEMBER 22, 2011 

Mr. REICHERT (for himself, Mr. OLSON, Mr. PASCRELL, and Mr. MATHESON) 

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 qualified radiologist assistants 

under the Medicare program. 

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 2011’’. 


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•HR 3032 IH

1 SEC. 2. MEDICARE PAYMENT FOR QUALIFIED RADIOLOGIST 

2 ASSISTANT 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) qualified radiologist assistant services (as 

11 defined in subsection (iii)(1)),’’; and 

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

14 ‘‘Qualified Radiologist Assistant Services; Qualified 

15 Radiologist Assistant 

16 ‘‘(iii)(1) The term ‘qualified radiologist assistant 

17 services’ means services— 

18 ‘‘(A) performed by a qualified radiologist assist19 ant (as defined in paragraph (2)) as an employee, 

20 leased employee, or independent contractor of the 

21 supervising radiologist under the supervision (as de22 termined by State law) of a radiologist; and 

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

24 authorized to perform under State law (or the State 

25 regulatory mechanism provided by State law). 


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•HR 3032 IH

1 ‘‘(2) The term ‘qualified radiologist assistant’ means 

2 a radiographer who is certified by the American Registry 

3 of Radiologic Technologists as a registered radiologist as4 sistant or by the Certification Board for Radiology Practi5 tioner Assistants as a radiology practitioner assistant to 

6 perform radiologic procedures under the supervision (as 

7 determined by State law) of a radiologist.’’. 

8 (b) PAYMENT IN RELATION TO PHYSICIAN FEE

9 SCHEDULE.— 

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

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

12 by inserting ‘‘or qualified radiologist assistant serv13 ices’’ after ‘‘or clinic nurse specialists’’. 

14 (2) PAYMENT TO SUPERVISING RADIOLOGIST.— 

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

16 (42 U.S.C. 1395u(b)(6)) is amended— 

17 (A) by striking ‘‘and’’ before ‘‘(H)’’; and 

18 (B) by inserting before the period at the 

19 end the following: ‘‘, and (I) in the case of 

20 qualified radiologist assistant services, the pay21 ment shall be made to the supervising radiolo22 gist’’. 

23 (3) RULES OF CONSTRUCTION.—Nothing in 

24 this section, or the amendments made by this sec25 tion, shall be construed as affecting— 


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•HR 3032 IH

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; or 

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

9 solely by a radiologist. 

10 (c) REVIEW AND REPORT.—The Secretary of Health 

11 and Human Services shall conduct a review of the effect 

12 of the amendments made by this section on patient satis13 faction and on the clinical and operational effectiveness 

14 of the use of radiologist assistants pursuant to such 

15 amendments, and shall submit to Congress not later than 

16 January 1, 2016, a report to Congress on such review. 

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

18 this section shall apply to services furnished on or after 

19 January 1, 2012. 

Æ 


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