Osteoporosis screening bill
This article was originally published in The Gray Sheet
Executive Summary
Legislation introduced Nov. 15 in the House (H.R. 4206) would restore Medicare payments to physicians for dual energy X-ray absorptiometry (DXA) to 2006 levels, reversing large cuts for the imaging procedure enacted in 2007 in the Deficit Reduction Act. Payments for DXA, which diagnoses osteoporosis, were $140 in 2006 but are expected to drop to $50 by 2010, according to the National Osteoporosis Foundation. DXA manufacturers include Hologic, GE Healthcare/Lunar and CooperSurgical/Norland. The bill, introduced by Shelley Berkley, D-Nev., has 41 cosponsors