,i  #aacth ,,congress  #ast ,session    
,h4 ,r4 #aadh  ,,in ,,the ,,house ,,of  
,,representatives  ,march #ad1 #bjac    
,mr4 ,reichert 7for himself1 ,mr4       
,matheson1 ,mr4 ,olson1 and ,mr4        
,pascrell7 introduced the following     
bill2 which was referred to the         
,committee on ,energy and ,commerce1 and
 in addition to the ,committee on ,ways 
and ,means1 for a period to be          
subsequently determined by the ,speaker1
 in each case for consideration of such 
provisions as fall within the           
jurisdiction of the committee concerned 
,a ,,bill  ,to amend title ,,xviii of   
the ,social ,security ,act to provide   
for payment for services of qualified   
radiologist assistants under the        
,medicare program4  #a4 ,short title    
,this ,act may be cited as the ,medicare
 ,access to ,radiology ,care ,act of    
#bjac4  #b4 ,medicare payment for       
qualified radiologist assistant services
  7a7 ,coverage ,section #ahfa of the   
,social ,security ,act 7#db ,u4,s4,c4   

#aciex7 is amended--  7#a7 in subsection
 7s77#b77,k7--  7,a7 by striking the    
semicolon at the end of clause 7ii7 and 
inserting a comma2 and  7,b7 by adding  
at the end the following new clause3    
7iii7 qualified radiologist assistant   
services 7as defined in subsection      
7iii77#a771  2 and  7#b7 by adding at   
the end the following new subsection3   
7iii7 ,qualified ,radiologist ,assistant
 ,services2 ,qualified ,radiologist     
,assistant  7#a7 ,the term qualified    
radiologist assistant services means    
services--  7,a7 performed by a         
qualified radiologist assistant 7as     
defined in paragraph 7#b77 as an        
employee1 leased employee1 or           
independent contractor of the           
supervising radiologist under the       
supervision 7as determined by ,state    
law7 of a radiologist2 and  7,b7 which  
the radiologist assistant is legally    
authorized to perform under ,state law  
7or the ,state regulatory mechanism     
provided by ,state law74  7#b7 ,the term

 qualified radiologist assistant means a
 radiographer who is certified by the   
,american ,registry of ,radiologic      
,technologists as a registered          
radiologist assistant or by the         
,certification ,board for ,radiology    
,practitioner ,assistants as a radiology
 practitioner assistant to perform      
radiologic procedures under the         
supervision 7as determined by ,state    
law7 of a radiologist4  4  7b7 ,payment 
in relation to physician fee schedule   
7#a7 ,payment level ,section            
#ahcc7;a77#a77,o7 of such ,act 7#db     
,u4,s4,c4 #aciel7a77#a77,o77 is amended 
by inserting or qualified radiologist   
assistant services after or clinic nurse
 specialists4  7#b7 ,payment to         
supervising radiologist ,the first      
sentence of section #ahdb7;b77#f7 of    
such ,act 7#db ,u4,s4,c4 #acieu7b77#f77 
is amended--  7,a7 by striking and      
before 7,h72 and  7,b7 by inserting     
before the period at the end the        
following3 1 and 7,i7 in the case of    

qualified radiologist assistant         
services1 the payment shall be made to  
the supervising radiologist4  7#c7      
,rules of construction ,nothing in this 
section1 or the amendments made by this 
section1 shall be construed as          
affecting--  7,a7 coverage of and       
payment for the technical component     
7including the technical component of a 
global fee7 with respect to imaging     
services under title ,,xviii of the     
,social ,security ,act 7#db ,u4,s4,c4   
#acie et seq47 as in effect before the  
date of the enactment of this ,act2 or  
7,b7 the amount of payment made for     
physicians' services under such title   
when furnished solely by a radiologist4 
7c7 ,review and report ,the ,secretary  
of ,health and ,human ,services shall   
conduct a review of the effect of the   
amendments made by this section on      
patient satisfaction and on the clinical
 and operational effectiveness of the   
use of radiologist assistants pursuant  
to such amendments1 and shall submit to 

,congress not later than ,january #a1   
#bjah1 a report to ,congress on such    
review4  7d7 ,effective date ,the       
amendments made by this section shall   
apply to services furnished on or after 
,january #a1 #bjad4