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A 3.26% Medicare boost that’s actually a 2% cut for radiologists?
Yes, you read that right.
CMS just dropped the 2026 Medicare Physician Fee Schedule, and the math doesn’t add up the way you’d think.
Here’s what’s happening:
📊 The conversion factor jumped to $33.40 (up 3.26%)
📊 Diagnostic radiology: DOWN 2%
📊 Nuclear medicine: DOWN 1%
📊 Interventional radiology: UP 2%
Wait, what?
The culprit: CMS halved facility-based indirect practice expense RVUs compared to non-facility settings. Translation: Your overhead costs just got devalued, and your total RVUs took a hit.
But here’s where it gets interesting.
Interventional radiologists scored big:
• 46 new lower extremity revascularization codes
• Higher reimbursement for drug-coated balloons and stents
• New angiography supply pack approved
Meanwhile, diagnostic radiologists are watching their payments shrink while imaging volumes explode and AI adoption costs mount.
Think about this: We’re asking radiologists to invest millions in AI tools that improve diagnostic accuracy and reduce turnaround times. We’re celebrating earlier cancer detection and reduced false positives.
Yet we’re cutting their reimbursement?
This isn’t just about money. It’s about sustainability.
Smaller imaging centers operating on thin margins can’t absorb these cuts. Rural facilities already struggling to recruit radiologists now have less to offer. And patients in underserved areas? They lose access.
The irony: CMS wants value-based care and better outcomes, but they’re penalizing the specialty that catches disease early and prevents costly complications.
Something has to give.
Either we fund diagnostic imaging properly, or we accept that access will continue declining in communities that need it most.
What do you think happens next?
♻️ Repost if diagnostic imaging deserves fair reimbursement
👉 Follow me, Jonathan Govette, for daily, real-time updates on healthcare technology and business news. LinkedIn Profile: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jonathangovette/
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Author:
CEO/Co-Founder @ Oatmeal Health | AI Lung Cancer Screening | Almost Became a Doctor | Engineer | Follow to Share What I’ve Learned Along the Way
I help patients get the care they need earlier, preventing late-stage cancer.
That’s been the throughline across three companies and almost 20 years in healthcare. At ReferralMD, we fixed broken referral networks so patients didn’t fall through the cracks. At Oatmeal Health, it’s lung cancer: building the diagnostic and screening infrastructure so the 85% of cases caught too late get caught early instead.
Today as CEO of Oatmeal Health, I lead a team embedding AI into radiology workflows to turn routine lung CT scans into reimbursable cancer risk assessments. We partner with FQHCs to reach underserved communities, and with health systems and payers to make early detection economically sustainable. Think HeartFlow or Cleerly, but for lungs.
Between companies, I advised at Techstars and Plug and Play, mentoring founders building in digital health. That experience shaped how I think about what separates companies that ship from companies that stall: distribution, reimbursement, and clinical trust, not just technology.
I’m a CancerX alumnus, a 3x healthcare founder, and someone who believes the biggest problems in cancer aren’t scientific. They’re operational.
We’re hiring mission-driven builders at Oatmeal Health. If you want to work on something that matters, reach out.
When I’m not working, I’m traveling, mentoring, and keeping up with one very energetic husky. 🐾
Substack – The Oatmeal Bite:
Millions of patients get less care because of who they are, where they live, or how they look. I’m fighting to change that. CEO @OatmealHealth, a startup built for the underserved. The Oatmeal Bite: intel for clinicians, investors, and advocates.
Jonathan Govette
CEO of Oatmeal Health
Substack:
https://oatmealhealthjonathangovette.substack.com/
