DEVICEMAKERS WANT CMS TO RECONSIDER SOME ASPECTS OF FINAL PAYMENT RULES

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) earlier this month released final rules on 2007 payments rates for the outpatient prospective payment system, ambulatory surgical center reimbursement and the Medicare physician fee schedule.

On at least one point, the industry is determined to challenge Congress and the CMS. "The cuts mandated by Congress to imaging services providers are unacceptable," AdvaMed President and CEO Stephen Ubl said in a recent statement. He is vowing to rally the medical imaging industry to fight those cuts.

The final rules can be accessed at www.cms.hhs.gov/PhysicianFeeSched/PFSFRN/itemdetail.asp?filterType=none&filterByDID=0&sortByDID=4&sortOrder=descending&itemID=CMS1188377 (http://www.cms.hhs.gov/PhysicianFeeSched/PFSFRN/itemdetail.asp?filterType=none&filterByDID=0&sortByDID=4&sortOrder=descending&itemID=CMS1188377).