ASTRO issued a comment letter to the Medicare Payment Advisory Commission (MedPAC) discussing significant cuts to radiation therapy in recent years and making the case for the Radiation Oncology Case Rate (ROCR) program proposal. At an October 5 meeting, the Medicare Payment and Advisory Commission (MedPAC) discussed potential reforms to the Medicare Physician Fee Schedule (MPFS), including inflationary updates, to stem declines in physician payment. MedPAC is an independent congressional agency that advises Congress on issues affecting the Medicare program.

ASTRO’s letter noted that radiation oncology has experienced 25% in cuts under the MPFS over the last decade. The letter also provided the Commission with an overview of ROCR, which is designed to stabilize payments, enhance quality, and reduce disparities by ensuring access to care. ASTRO Health Policy Leadership will be meeting with MedPAC staff in November to further discuss the radiation oncology experience under the MPFS and provide additional detail on ROCR.

Under ROCR, payment for radiation oncology services would shift from payment per fraction to payment per patient. ROCR establishes episode-based payment for 15 cancer types involving anyone of the following modalities of treatment: Conventional treatment delivery, IMRT, SRS and SBRT. For more information about ROCR, see ASTRO’s webpage that includes policy papers and modeling tools on the program.