,,ii  #aafth ,,congress  #ast ,session  
,s4 #bhc  ,,in ,,the ,,senate ,,of ,,the
 ,,united ,,states  ,january #cj1       
#bjai,ms4 ,collins 7for herself1 ,mr4   
,cardin1 ,mrs4 ,blackburn1 ,mr4 ,king1  
,mrs4 ,capito1 ,mr4 ,wicker1 and ,ms4   
,stabenow7 introduced the following     
bill2 which was read twice and referred 
to the ,committee on ,finance  ,a ,,bill
  ,to amend title ,,xviii of the ,social
 ,security ,act to improve access to1   
and utilization of1 bone mass           
measurement benefits under part ,b of   
the ,medicare program by establishing a 
minimum payment amount under such part  
for bone mass measurement4  #a4 ,short  
title ,this ,act may be cited as the    
,increasing ,access to ,osteoporosis    
,testing for ,medicare ,beneficiaries   
,act of #bjai4  #b4 ,findings ,the      
,congress finds the following3  7#a7    
,osteoporosis is a major public health  
problem with #ed million ,americans as  
of #bjaj having either low bone mass or 
osteoporosis1 responsible for over #b   

million fractures per year1 including   
over #cjj1jjj hip fractures4 ,the       
estimated total cost of these fractures 
in #bjje was #ag billion and expected to
 rise to over #be billion by #bjbe4     
7#b7 ,osteoporosis is a silent disease  
that often is not discovered until a    
fracture occurs4 ,one out of two women  
and up to one of four men will suffer an
 osteoporotic fracture in their         
lifetimes4  7#c7 ,while both men and    
women may develop osteoporosis1 #hj     
percent are women4  7#d7 ,most women are
 not aware of their personal risk       
factors for osteoporosis1 the prevalence
 of1 or the morbidity and mortality     
associated with the disease1 despite the
 fact that broken bones due to          
osteoporosis lead to more               
hospitalizations and greater health care
 costs than heart attack1 stroke1 or    
breast cancer in women age #ee and      
above4  7#e7 ,a woman's risk of hip     
fracture is equal to her combined risk  
of breast1 uterine1 and ovarian cancer4 

,more women die in the ,united ,states  
in the year following a hip fracture    
than from breast cancer4  7#f7 ,one out 
of four people who have an osteoporotic 
hip fracture will need long-term nursing
 home care4 ,half of those who          
experience osteoporotic hip fractures   
are unable to walk without assistance4  
7#g7 ,elderly women are so afraid of    
losing their independence that #h in #aj
 would rather die than break their hip  
and be admitted to a nursing home4  7#h7
 ,bone density testing is more powerful 
in predicting fractures than cholesterol
 is in predicting myocardial infarction 
or blood pressure in predicting stroke4 
7#i7 ,osteoporosis remains both         
under-recognized and under-treated4     
,over a #g-year period 7#bjjg-bjac71 #de
 percent of older female ,medicare      
beneficiaries had no ,,dxa bone density 
test1 and #be percent had only one test4
  7#aj7 ,,dxa testing in older women    
declined in #bjad to the lowest point in
 #aj years4  7#aa7 ,a decade of steady  

decline in hip fractures stopped        
abruptly in #bjac4 ,since then1 there   
have been more than #ad1jjj additional  
hip fractures1 costing over #efj        
million1 leading to #b1hjj more deaths  
than expected if the decline had        
continued4  #c4 ,increasing access to   
osteoporosis prevention and treatment   
,section #ahdh7;b7 of the ,social       
,security ,act 7#db ,u4,s4,c4           
#aciew-#d7;b77 is amended-- 7#a7 in     
paragraph 7#d77;,b7--  7,a7 by striking 
and the first #b months of #bjab and    
inserting the first #b months of #bjab1 
#bjai1 and each subsequent year2 and    
7,b7 by striking paragraph 7#f7 and     
inserting paragraphs 7#f7 and 7#ab72 and
  7#b7 by adding at the end the         
following3  7#ab7 ,establishing minimum 
payment for osteoporosis tests ,for     
dual-energy x-ray absorptiometry        
services 7identified by ,,hcpcs codes   
#ggjhj and #ggjhb and successor codes   
#ggjhe and #ggjhf 7and any succeeding   
codes77 furnished during #bjai or a     

subsequent year1 the ,secretary shall   
establish a national minimum payment    
amount under this subsection--  7,a7 for
 such services identified by ,,hcpcs    
code #ggjhj1 equal to #ih 7with national
 minimum payment amounts of #hg4aa for  
the technical component and #aj4hi for  
the professional component72  7,b7 for  
such services identified by ,,hcpcs code
 #ggjhf1 equal to #ce 7with national    
minimum payment amounts of #bg4ah for   
the technical component and #g4hb for   
the professional component72 and  7,c7  
for the bundled code for dual energy    
absorptiometry and vertebral fracture   
assessment studies identified as ,,hcpcs
 code #ggjhe1 equal to #acc 7with       
national minimum payment amounts of     
#aad4bi for the technical component and 
#ah4ga for the professional component74 
,such minimum payment amounts shall be  
adjusted by the geographical adjustment 
factor established under subsection     
7e77#b7 for the services for the        
respective year4  4