2006 proposed fee schedule - American Society of Clinical Oncology

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physician-investors in nuclear medicine equipment (including
PET scanners) divest their ownership or investment interests
or be precluded from submitting claims to Medicare or
billing the beneficiary or any entity for the nuclear
medicine DHS referred by physician-owners and performed with
the physician-owned equipment (unless the arrangement falls
within an exception to section 1877 of the Act).
We are soliciting comments as to whether, or how, to
minimize the impact on physicians who are currently parties
to arrangements that involve nuclear medicine services and
supplies (that is, by specifying a delayed effective date or
by grandfathering certain arrangements).
Q. Sustainable Growth Rate
[If you choose to comment on issues in this section, please
include the caption “SGR” at the beginning of your
comments.]
1. Current Estimate
Sections 1848(d) and (f) of the Act require the
Secretary to set the physician fee schedule update under the
SGR system. We are currently forecasting an update of -4.3
percent for 2006, and anticipate further negative updates in
later years. As in the past, we will include a complete
discussion of our methodology for calculating the SGR in the
final rule.