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MITA Applauds Introduction of H.R.

3772, The Medicare Diagnostic


Radiopharmaceutical Payment Equity Act of 2019

Washington, DC, July 17, 2019 --(PR.com)-- The Medical Imaging & Technology Alliance (MITA),
along with the Council on Radionuclides and Radiopharmaceuticals, Inc. (CORAR) and the Society of
Nuclear Medicine & Molecular Imaging (SNMMI), today applauded Representative Scott Peters
(CA-52), George Holding (NC-2) and Bobby Rush (IL-1) for introducing bipartisan legislation that will
ensure equitable payment for precision diagnostic radiopharmaceuticals while also preserving patient
access to these crucial technologies.

The Medicare Diagnostic Radiopharmaceutical Payment Equity Act of 2019 (H.R. 3772) addresses
structural issues in the packaging methodology used in the Medicare outpatient setting, giving patients
greater access to a slew of much needed diagnostic radiopharmaceuticals.

“Under the current Medicare Hospital Outpatient Prospective Payment System (OPPS), cutting-edge,
effective radiopharmaceutical drugs are inappropriately packaged, which limits patient access and
discourages innovation,” said Terri Wilson, Senior Director of Patient Access and Healthcare Policy at
Blue Earth Diagnostics and current Chair of the MITA PET Group. “The Medicare Diagnostic
Radiopharmaceutical Payment Equity Act of 2019 fixes this structural flaw, allowing patients
much-needed access to diagnostic radiopharmaceuticals for life-threatening conditions.”

Diagnostic radiopharmaceuticals are drugs and must be approved by the Food and Drug Administration
(FDA). Although Medicare pays separately for diagnostic radiopharmaceuticals as drugs in the clinician
office settings, in 2008, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) began treating diagnostic
radiopharmaceuticals as supplies and bundling or “packaging” the drugs with the cost of the procedure in
hospital outpatient settings.

Millions of Americans benefit from nuclear medicine procedures annually and more exciting new
technologies are in development that could provide precision imaging for hard to diagnose diseases.
These cutting-edge tools are already being used to diagnose diseases such as prostate cancer, Alzheimer's
disease and Parkinson disease.

The Medical Imaging & Technology Alliance (MITA), a division of NEMA, is the collective voice of
medical imaging equipment manufacturers, innovators, and product developers. It represents companies
whose sales comprise more than 90 percent of the global market for advanced medical imaging
technology. For more information, visit www.medicalimaging.org. Follow MITA on Twitter
@MITAToday.-----

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Contact Information:
Medical Imaging and Technology Alliance
Tracy Cullen
703.841.3282
Contact via Email
https://www.medicalimaging.org/

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