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) intro-
duced 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. 
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Medicare Access to 
Radiology Care Act of 2019’’. 
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SEC. 2. MEDICARE PAYMENT FOR RADIOLOGIST ASSISTANT 
SERVICES. 
(a) COVERAGE.—Section 1861 of the Social Security 
Act (42 U.S.C. 1395x) is amended— 
(1) in subsection (s)(2)(K)— 
(A) by striking the semicolon at the end of 
clause (ii) and inserting a comma; and 
(B) by adding at the end the following new 
clause: 
‘‘(iii) radiologist assistant services (as 
defined in subsection (kkk)(1));’’; and 
(2) by adding at the end the following new sub-
section: 
‘‘Radiologist Assistant Services; Radiologist Assistant 
‘‘(kkk)(1) The term ‘radiologist assistant services’ 
means services— 
‘‘(A) performed by a radiologist assistant (as 
defined in paragraph (2)) under the supervision of 
a radiologist as an employee, leased employee, or 
independent contractor of the supervising radiolo-
gist; and 
‘‘(B) which the radiologist assistant is legally 
authorized to perform under State law (or the State 
regulatory mechanism provided by State law). 
‘‘(2) The term ‘radiologist assistant’ means a 
radiographer who is certified by the American Registry of 
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Radiologic Technologists as a registered radiologist assist-
ant or by the Certification Board for Radiology Practi-
tioner Assistants as a radiology practitioner assistant to 
perform radiologic procedures under the supervision of a 
radiologist.’’. 
(b) PAYMENT
IN RELATION
TO PHYSICIAN FEE 
SCHEDULE.— 
(1) PAYMENT LEVEL.—Section 1833(a)(1)(O) 
of such Act (42 U.S.C. 1395l(a)(1)(O)) is amended 
by striking ‘‘or clinic nurse specialists’’ and inserting 
‘‘clinic nurse specialists, or radiologist assistant serv-
ices’’. 
(2) APPLICATION OF FEE SCHEDULE IN HOS-
PITAL, 
AMBULATORY
SURGICAL
CENTER
SET-
TINGS.—Section 1848(a) of such Act (42 U.S.C. 
1395w–4(a)) is amended by adding at the end the 
following new paragraph: 
‘‘(10) APPLICATION
OF
FEE
SCHEDULE
FOR 
RADIOLOGIST
ASSISTANT
SERVICES
IN
HOSPITAL, 
AMBULATORY SURGICAL CENTER SETTINGS.— 
‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—In the case of radiolo-
gist assistant services (as defined in section 
1861(kkk)(1)) furnished in a facility setting (as 
defined in subparagraph (B)), payment for such 
services furnished in such setting shall be made 
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to the supervising radiologist in an amount de-
termined pursuant to section 1833(a)(1)(O). 
‘‘(B) FACILITY
SETTING
DEFINED.—In 
this paragraph, the term ‘facility setting’ 
means— 
‘‘(i) a hospital or critical access hos-
pital; 
‘‘(ii) an ambulatory surgical center; 
and 
‘‘(iii) such other providers of services 
as the Secretary may specify.’’. 
(3) PAYMENT TO SUPERVISING RADIOLOGIST.— 
The first sentence of section 1842(b)(6) of such Act 
(42 U.S.C. 1395u(b)(6)) is amended— 
(A) by striking ‘‘and’’ before ‘‘(J)’’; and 
(B) by inserting before the period at the 
end the following: ‘‘, and (K) in the case of 
services described in clause (iii) of section 
1861(s)(2)(K) (relating to radiologist assistant 
services), payment shall be made to the super-
vising radiologist’’. 
(4) RULES
OF
CONSTRUCTION.—Nothing in 
this section, or the amendments made by this sec-
tion, shall be construed as affecting— 
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(A) coverage of and payment for the tech-
nical component (including the technical compo-
nent of a global fee) with respect to imaging 
services under title XVIII of the Social Security 
Act (42 U.S.C. 1395 et seq.) as in effect before 
the date of the enactment of this Act; 
(B) the amount of payment made for phy-
sicians’ services under such title when furnished 
solely by a radiologist; or 
(C) the amount of payment made under 
such title for services furnished by a hospital, 
critical access hospital, ambulatory surgical cen-
ter or any other facility setting specified by the 
Secretary under section 1848(a)(10)(B)(iii) of 
the Social Security Act (as added by paragraph 
(3)), as the case may be. 
(c) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendments made by 
this section shall apply to services furnished on or after 
January 1, 2020. 
Æ 
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