According to an article from the AP, many insurance companies are concerned with cost and safety concerns of medical scans, as well as a tendency for those scans (such as CT scans) to be overprescribed. The article cites that insurers "fear some patients are being exposed to dangerous radiation levels from having repeated CT and PET scans, which use many times the radiation of a regular chest X-ray." But some doctors, like Dr. Arl Van Moore, board chairman at the American College of Radiology, believes that multiple lesser scans, oftentimes, are necessary in order to gain approval for more advanced scans.
For more information:
- read the AP article here