The October 2011 Legislative Update
By Steve Cohen, RT(R), ISRT Legislative Liaison
This section will keep you up to date on what is happening with legislation that affects all of us, whether in Indiana or across the country.
As of October 2011, there has been no movement with the CARE Bill. We so far, have only two US House of Representatives who are present co-sponsors of this bill. They are Congressman Dan Burton and Congressman Andre’ Carson. We need your help. Please contact the Congressman in your district and ask him to please support and co-sponsor this very important bill!
Not sure how to contact your representative? Just go to the ASRT eAdvocacy for You site: http://capwiz.com/asrt/home/ and click on the Take Action button. Enter your zip code to generate who you need to contact.
Also, we will be going to RT in DC again next year. The dates for this great event are March 25th-27th. If you would like to attend contact me at
This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it
And speaking of Indiana, the RA’s (Radiologist Assistant) are trying to get a bill passed in Indiana. This bill, once passed, will reduce supervision levels that RA’s must currently meet for their services to be paid by Medicare and set a reimbursement level for RA services at 85% of the physician fee schedule rate. This bill was introduced in the United States House of Representatives on September 22, 2011. You can contact your Indiana Congressman about this issue as well.
The introduction of the RA bill in the US House was a collaboration of the ASRT, ARRT and the American College of Radiology.
If you have ANY questions about the CARE bill or the RA bill, just send me an e-mail (
This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it
) and I will get back with you!! |
So much depends upon the quality of medical imaging examinations. When properly performed, they allow doctors to detect injury and diagnose disease. When improperly performed, they are useless. That’s why it is so surprising that 8 states and the District of Columbia allow people with little or no training to perform x-rays and other diagnostic imagine examinations. In 17 states, inadequately educated personnel are allowed to deliver radiation therapy designed to treat cancer, and in 23 states they are allowed to perform nuclear medicine procedures.
