Radiation oncology cuts averted?

[Zap]

From the Wall Street Journal:
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB125694130523919525.html?mod=googlenews_wsj

... CMS had proposed making changes that would result in lowered payments to physicians for using radiation oncology procedures, but decided against that. Congressman, patient groups and doctors had argued against cutting payments for radiology procedures, saying the radiology equipment is necessary to treat patients who already are shown to have cancer. ...

It's clear the WSJ writer isn't totally clear on the difference between radiology and radiation oncology, but what else is new? The devil is in the details, of course, and it will be interesting to see what the final word from ASTRO is on this. Overall it sounds encouraging.

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[Gfunk6]

Got an email from ASTRO confirming this. The 19% pay cuts are now ~ 1 % starting on Jan 2010. Kudos to ASTRO's successful advocacy.