Renacci leads call to preserve reimbursement rates for lung cancer screening

U.S. Rep. Jim Renacci (R-OH) led a bipartisan call on Tuesday for the Trump administration to avoid cutting reimbursement rates for low-dose CT (LDCT) scans used by hospitals to detect lung cancer.

Renacci led a letter to the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) and the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services that voiced opposition to a 44 percent reduction in reimbursement rates for LDCT scans in the calendar year 2018 Hospital Outpatient Prospective Payment System proposed rule.

“Lung cancer is the leading cause of cancer death in every ethnic and racial group in the country, so it’s imperative that we ensure our patients have access to these lifesaving screenings which can detect lung cancer and other diseases at early stages, when still curable,” Renacci said.

The letter calls on HHS to classify LDCT screenings in an appropriate ambulatory payment classification (APC) for outpatient services to ensure “adequate consideration is given to clinical similarity.”

“We also want to ensure that CMS has amassed a sufficient number of accurate claims needed to determine appropriate payment given that Medicare only recently began covering this screening procedure,” the lawmakers wrote.

Among the 55 lawmakers who signed the letter were: U.S. Reps. Marsha Blackburn (R-TN), Larry Bucshon (R-IN), Lynn Jenkins (R-KS), Jackie Walorski (R-IN), Mike Kelly (R-PA), Diane Black (R-TN), Charlie Dent (R-PA), Erik Paulsen (R-MN), Rodney Davis (R-IL), David Joyce (R-OH) and Fred Upton (R-MI).