U.S. Sen. Susan Collins (R-ME) recently led a bipartisan contingent of lawmakers in requesting improved Medicare access to specific bone testing for Americans.
“We write to bring your attention to the alarming effect the COVID-19 pandemic has had on physicians who provide testing for low bone density and osteoporosis in older populations,” wrote Sen. Collins and her colleagues in a Sept. 29 letter sent to Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) Administrator Seema Verma.
According to the senators’ letter, osteoporosis and its related bone fractures have a staggering impact on the U.S. healthcare system, with costs projected to grow to over $25 billion by 2025.
Sen. Collins and the lawmakers noted that while insufficient Medicare reimbursement hampered access to dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry (DXA) testing before the pandemic, the ability of physicians to continue offering DXA testing for low bone density “may all but disappear as a result of the pandemic absent urgent action from CMS.”
“With providers across the country facing tremendous financial challenges as a result of the ongoing crisis, 20 percent of physicians recently surveyed who currently offer DXA testing say that they will discontinue this service because of low reimbursement from Medicare,” they wrote.
Sen. Collins and her colleagues requested that CMS address DXA reimbursement in the final 2021 Physician Fee Schedule rule and to engage in “meaningful dialogue” with Congress and various stakeholders to find ways to ensure appropriate access to “a test that can help extend and improve the lives of Medicare beneficiaries while enhancing the value of the program’s benefits.”
Among those who joined Sen. Collins in signing the letter were U.S. Sens. Shelley Moore Capito (R-WV), Marsha Blackburn (R-TN), Martha McSally (R-AZ), and Ben Cardin (D-MD).