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Serving Over 20,000 US Medical Transcriptionists

Radiology is getting hit big time. Stand alone imaging centers especially.

Posted By: Piece inside on 2006-03-22
In Reply to: On their vacations and jets and yachts, etc. - nm

Radiologists and lawyers usually mix about as well as oil and water. But radiology's near-term future could depend on the efforts of an Alabama attorney who is fighting a one-man battle to overturn legislation that could devastate the independent imaging center industry.

Jim Zeigler is an elder care attorney and self-described Republican activist who has taken issue with the Deficit Reduction Act (DRA) of 2005, legislation enacted earlier this year that makes cuts to a wide range of federal government services. In radiology, the legislation specifically cuts $2.8 billion in Medicare payments for imaging services conducted in out-of-hospital settings.

Mr. Zeigler's beef is with the changes the DRA has made to the way Medicaid calculates how people can qualify for federal nursing home assistance. He might be just another gadfly if it weren't for one fatal flaw in the legislation -- a key difference in the versions of the bills passed by the Senate and the House of Representatives wasn't properly reconciled, as required by the U.S. Constitution.

We're featuring a Q&A interview with Mr. Zeigler in our Imaging Center Digital Community, in which he explains his objections to the DRA and what the radiology community can do to help. Read all about it by going to http://www.auntminnie.com/index.asp?Sec=sup&Sub=imc&Pag=dis&ItemId=70190&wf=770.



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    xx
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    I stand corrected.
    o