The American College of Radiology and the American Society of Anesthesiology strongly opposed the Administration's proposed Part C Medicare program as the House Ways and Means Committee closed hearings on the bill.
The Committee was expected to spend three to four weeks working on the bill behind closed doors.
Wallace D. Buchanan, MD, past president of the College of Radiology, told the Committee that hospital compensated, or forego a portion of the reasonable charge for their professional services," he said. "It regulates and minimizes their professional physicians' fees and would seem to violate the spirit and perhaps the letter" of the Medicare law.
Dr. Buchanan continued:
"Thus, Part C treats professional physicians' services of radiologists as hospital services and pointedly removes these physicians' services "Part C segregates physicians' services in radiology and pathology from services of other physicians which are covered under Part B. This is innately discriminatory. Discrimination against