12 2 STA T . 2 540PUBLIC LA W 110 – 2 7 5 —J UL Y 15 , 200 8(1)STUDY.— ( A ) INGE NE RAL .— TheComptr o l ler G e n er a lo f the U n i te d State s (in this s ub se c tion referred to as the ‘ ‘Comp - troller General ’ ’) shall conduct a stud y, by ima g ing modality, on— (i) the effect of the accreditation re q uirement under section 1 834 (e) of the Social Security Act, as added by subsection (a)
and (ii) any other rele v ant questions involving access to, and the value of, advanced diagnostic imaging serv- ices for M edicare beneficiaries. ( B )I S SUES.—The study conducted under subparagraph (A) shall e x amine the follo w ing
(i) The impact of such accreditation requirement on the number, type, and quality of imaging services furnished to Medicare beneficiaries. (ii) The cost of such accreditation requirement, including costs to facilities of compliance with such requirement and costs to the Secretary of admin- istering such requirement. (iii) Access to imaging services by Medicare bene- ficiaries, especially in rural areas, before and after implementation of such accreditation requirement. (iv) Such other issues as the Secretary determines appropriate. ( 2 ) R E PO RTS.— (A) P REL IM INARY REPORT.— N ot later than March 1, 2 0 13, the Comptroller General shall submit a preliminary report to Congress on the study conducted under paragraph (1). (B) F INAL REPORT.—Not later than March 1, 2014, the Comptroller General shall submit a final report to Congress on the study conducted under paragraph (1), together with recommendations for such legislation and administrative action as the Comptroller General deter- mines appropriate. SEC.136 . E XT E N S IO NO F T R E A T M ENT OF CERTAIN PHY SICIAN PATHO L O G Y SER V ICES U N D ER MEDICARE. Section 5 42(c) of the Medicare, Medicaid, and SC H IP Benefits Improvement and Protection Act of 2000 (as enacted into law by section 1(a)( 6 ) of Public L aw 106 – 554), as amended by section 7 32 of the Medicare Prescription D rug, Improvement, and Mod- erni z ation Act of 2003 (42 U.S.C. 13 9 5w–4 note), section 104 of division B of the Tax Relief and Health Care Act of 2006 (42 U.S.C. 1395w–4 note), and section 104 of the Medicare, Medicaid, and SCHIP E xtension Act of 2007 (Public Law 110–173), is amended by stri k ing ‘‘2007, and the first 6 months of 2008’’ and inserting ‘‘2007, 2008, and 2009’’. SEC. 13 7 . ACCOMMODATION OF PHYSICIANS ORDERED TO ACTIVE DUTY IN THE ARMED SERVICES. Section 1842(b)(6)(D)(iii) of the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 1395u(b)(6)(D)(iii)), as amended by section 116 of the Medicare, Medicaid, and SCHIP Extension Act of 2007 (Public Law 110– 173), is amended by striking ‘‘(before J uly 1, 2008)’’. 42USC1395w– 4 note.
�
