The Senate Finance Committee passed its version of healthcare reform on October 13, with Republican senator Olympia Snowe of Maine joining the 13 Democrats in the committee in a 14 to 9 vote.
The bill, known as the Baucus bill after chief author Sen. Max Baucus (D-MT), proposes setting the equipment utilization rate to 65% for the first four years of the bill's 10-year tenure. During that time an impact study will be conducted, and if it is determined that the rate is cost-effective, it will remain at 65%. If not, the Secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services has the perogative to raise the utilization rate to 75% in 2014.
Also in the bill is a provision addressing physician self-referral that would require any physician who owns imaging equipment to disclose that fact to his or her patients, and provide a list of alternative facilities where the service can be provided.
The Senate Finance Committee's work is strong, but there's still a long way to go, according to Cynthia Moran, assistant executive director for government relations at the American College of Radiology (ACR) in Reston, VA.
"We are very appreciative of Sen. Baucus and his staff and the spirit of their negotiations with us throughout the entire process," Moran said. "The imaging policies in this bill are a bit more fair, more responsive to the concerns we've expressed."
Senate leaders now begin the task of merging the Finance bill with that of the Senate Health Committee; the final version will then go to the floor for amendment, a process that could take some time. Once the Senate has come up with its final offering, it must reconcile it to the House's version before presenting it to President Obama for signature into law.
"We think it's a good start, and we'll see how it evolves," Moran said.
Related Reading
More taxes for health companies in U.S. Senate bill, October 8, 2009
Senate healthcare bill unscathed after first week, September 29, 2009
Self-referral foes fail to add amendment to healthcare reform bill, September 24, 2009
Self-referral amendment doesn't make the cut in House reform bill, August 3, 2009
Hopes dim for House anti-self-referral amendment, July 24, 2009
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