On May 21, Sen. John Boozman, R-AR and Sen. Ben Ray Luján, D-NM, introduced Senate Bill 4624, the Medicare Access to Radiology Care Act, better known as MARCA. S. 4624 will amend Title XVIII of the Social Security Act to provide for payment to the employer for services performed by a radiologist assistant under the Medicare program.  

In late 2018, Medicare amended its payment policy to adjust the radiologist supervision levels for radiologist assistants. Currently, radiologists who employ RAs are unable to submit claims to Medicare for nondiagnostic services performed by RAs they directly supervise in both the hospital and office setting, as well as for diagnostic services in hospitals.   

By no longer separating radiologist assistant reimbursement policies into different payment categories by service location, MARCA would enable radiologists to devote more focused time to reviewing and interpreting complex medical images or urgent cases, thus increasing patients’ access to care. RAs will be able to work more efficiently, and Medicare patients will receive care from qualified RAs regardless of the facility in which their procedure takes place.