The DXA Task Force is urging the U.S. Congress to pass legislation to reverse cuts in Medicare reimbursement for dual-energy x-ray absorptiometry (DEXA), the imaging procedure used to diagnose osteoporosis.
Lawmakers are considering the Medicare Fracture Prevention and Osteoporosis Testing Act of 2009 (S. 769 and H.R. 1894) introduced by Sens. Blanche Lincoln (D-AR) and Olympia Snowe (R-ME) in the Senate and Reps. Shelley Berkley (D-NV) and Michael Burgess (R-TX) in the House.
The DXA Task Force includes the National Osteoporosis Foundation, American Association of Clinical Endocrinologists, American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists, American College of Rheumatology, American Society for Bone and Mineral Research, International Society for Clinical Densitometry, and Endocrine Society.
The group asserts that Medicare reimbursement for DEXA outside the hospital setting has been reduced to levels substantially below the cost to perform the procedure. As a result, many physicians and clinics around the country are discontinuing this service, limiting the public's access to the test and jeopardizing patients' quality of healthcare.
In its campaign, the task force cited a 2008 study by Kaiser Permanente that found that increased use of DEXA testing and osteoporosis treatment from 2002 to 2006 resulted in a 37% reduction in hip fractures and $30.8 million in savings in a single year in 11 Kaiser health centers.
Additionally, a 2007 study by the Lewin Group concluded that restoring DEXA reimbursement to 2006 levels would save the Medicare program $1.14 billion over five years from fewer osteoporotic fractures.
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