GAO Report Looks at Medicare Imaging Payment Cap; New Resources Available To Aid in Comparison of Presidential Candidates’ Health Care Plans

• "Medicare: Trends in Fees, Utilization and Expenditures for Imaging Services Before and After Implementation of the Deficit Reduction Act of 2005," Government Accountability Office: The report examined the effect of a rule included in the DRA that physician reimbursements for outpatient imaging services could not exceed what Medicare pays for such services in outpatient hospital settings. The payment cap, which took effect in 2006, was intended to curb rapid growth in spending on imaging services. The report shows that per-beneficiary spending on imaging increased by 11.4% annually from 2000 to 2006 but declined by 12.7% in 2007. In addition, the annual rate of increase in per-beneficiary utilization of imaging provided by physicians was 5.9% per year from 2000 to 2006 but slowed to 3.2% in 2007, according to the study ("Medicare: Trends in Fees, Utilization and Expenditures for Imaging Services Before and After Implementation of the Deficit Reduction Act of 2005," GAO, 9/26).
  
  
• New resources, Kaiser Family Foundation: The Foundation has added two new resources to its health08.org Web site. The site added a new, interactive tool that allows users to compare the major presidential candidates' proposals and positions on a range of health care issues that are not necessarily addressed in their health care reform proposals. The comparisons are based on information compiled from the candidates' Web sites, speeches and debates. The site also offers a new compilation of video clips of the candidates discussing various aspects of health care reform. Health08.org serves as a hub of information about health and the election, providing original polling and analysis produced by Kaiser, news summaries and videos and podcasts from the campaign trail, and easy access to health-related resources from the campaigns, other organizations and news outlets (Kaiser Family Foundation release, 9/26).