In July, ASTRO issued a statement calling on President Biden and Congress to intervene on the drastic cuts.

Medicare should provide stable and predictable reimbursement for care rendered to its beneficiaries.” It is reckless for CMS to propose such a severe decline in reimbursement, particularly during a public health emergency. We also are asking that the RO Model's discount factors be reduced to 3% to safeguard access to care for patients at the 950 hospitals and community-based clinics required to participate in the model, while ensuring Medicare achieves a reasonable level of savings.'Īs the radiation oncology community seeks resources and support to improve access and quality for rural and underserved populations, these polices represent a massive step backwards. We call on the Biden Administration to address the concerns of radiation oncologists across the country and avoid these draconian payment cuts before finalizing the Medicare physician fee schedule and the RO Model.ĪSTRO recommends that radiation therapy cancer treatments should be held harmless from payment cuts due to the fee schedule's clinical labor pricing update. These proposed cuts to radiation oncology are among the highest of any medical specialty, and our patients will suffer the impact.ĪSTRO and the radiation oncology community have proactively pursued value-based reimbursement for radiation oncology that incentivizes high-quality, efficient care while stabilizing payments to ensure patient access to the latest technology in the fight against cancer. If the cuts are finalized, radiation oncology Medicare reimbursement will have plummeted by 25% since 2012. Radiation oncology is the backbone of the nation's cancer delivery system, providing cost-effective care for more than half of all people diagnosed with cancer. And this comes at a time when cancer incidence rates are rising due to screening delays related to COVID-19. Patients in rural areas, for example, now risk losing access to cancer treatment in their communities, forcing long and expensive travel to receive care.

The excessive cuts will jeopardize patients' ability to get state-of-the-art cancer care close to home, with practices treating underserved populations hit hardest by the cuts. We are confused and disappointed that these proposed policies stand in such sharp contrast to President Biden's goals to 'end cancer as we know it' and advance health equity. Payment rates for some radiation treatments for breast and prostate cancer will drop by about 13%, for example, and by more than 22% for advanced lung cancer treatment. This double hit will be devastating to our patients and radiation oncology teams, endanger patient access to life-saving treatment and threaten the viability of clinics still reeling from the COVID-19 pandemic. 'ASTRO submitted comment letters to CMS and asked President Joe Biden to address two proposals that will result in $300 million in cuts to cancer care: $140 million in cuts due to several policy changes in the 2022 Medicare Physician Fee Schedule and cuts of $160 million over 5 years under the mandatory Radiation Oncology Model (RO Model). Eichler, MD, FASTRO, Chair of the ASTRO Board of Directors, issued the following statement: Newswise - ARLINGTON, Va., Septem( view online) - The American Society for Radiation Oncology (ASTRO) submitted two comment letters to the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) today urging the agency to reconsider policy changes that will result in $300 million in Medicare cuts for radiation therapy services starting January 1, 2022.

$299 for the astroboard