September 2008
In late July, the Medicare Clinical Diagnostic Laboratory Fee Schedule Modernization Act of 2008 (H.R. 6761) was introduced by Reps. Bart Stupak (D-Mich.) and Michael Burgess (R-Texas) to reform the present lab fee system. The goal is to develop a single national Part B lab fee schedule for use in all lab settings, based on the value of the testing and the resources required, plus an adjustment for geographic cost differences. While lab industry groups generally acknowledge that the current lab fee schedule is inadequate and inefficient, especially in pricing new tests such as molecular diagnostics and other gene- or protein-based procedures, some are warning that switching to a different payment method could be problematic. But two leading industry groups—the Clinical Laboratory Management Association (CLMA) and the American Society of Clinical Laboratory Scientists—are working to secure support from other members of the Clinical Laboratory Coalition. In a statement supporting the bill, CLMA said, "The Medicare lab fee schedule was adopted in 1984 and has not been subject to a fundamental review and updating since then to reflect changes in the delivery of clinical lab medicine, resulting in real reductions in reimbursement."
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September 2008 - Table of Contents
