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This biweekly newsletter provides concise, independent coverage and analysis of fast-breaking lab, pathology, blood banking, imaging and diagnostic radiology news from the Nation's Capital.
You'll find out about:
- Medicare payment and policy directives Billing guidelines and coding changes for diagnostic facilities
- CLIA & MQSA regulatory mandates, changes and interpretations
- Congressional actions & legislative initiatives
- Federal compliance requirements
- OIG anti-fraud initiatives
- Stark self-referral prohibitions
Plus you will get other legal news regarding FDA oversight of in vitro diagnostics, blood banks, and radiological devices OSHA, NRC, and state safety standards.
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 | NIR April 9, 2007 (full PDF issue) |
| Reserve funds for Medicare physician fee fix approved in House, Senate budget blueprints
Census Bureau revises number of uninsured in U.S.
Kennedy, Obama bills take different approaches to genetic test regulation––See Focus
CMS to take another look at ‘pod labs’ in proposed rule
CLIA Advisory: New waived tests and related codes, effective April 1
ACLA Results for Life campaign shines spotlight on lab testing value
Washington Watch: Lab bidding demo misses planned April 1 start date
Full Article |
| Obama Jumps Into Senate Debate on Genetic Testing |
| Sen. Barack Obama (D-IL) has introduced a bill to increase federal involvement in genetic testing and genomics, with the aim of promoting scientific advances and their use in personalized medicine.
Full Article |
| CMS Adopts Contingency Plan for NPI Compliance |
| To the relief of the lab industry and other healthcare providers, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services is adopting a contingency plan for covered entities (other than small health plans) that will not meet the May 23 deadline to comply with National Provider Identifier (NPI) requirements under HIPAA (the Health Insurance Portability & Accountability Act).
Full Article |
| Senate, House Pass FY 2008 Budget Blueprints |
| Before recessing for a two-week spring break through mid-April, the House and the Senate passed budget resolutions to guide congressional committees in setting Medicare and other spending priorities for fiscal year 2008 (which begins October 1, 2007). The resolutions are advisory, not binding, but do identify priorities for Medicare policy changes, including a physician fee fix, and for reauthorization of the State Children’s Health Insurance Program (SCHIP).
Full Article |
| Senate Bills Take Differing Tack on Genetic Test Oversight |
| Bipartisan bills recently introduced in the Senate have sharpened the legislative focus on federal regulation of genetic testing. Both agree that some level of oversight is needed in this fast-growing—and promising—diagnostics and therapeutics market, but the bills diverge on what that level should be and who should enforce it.
Full Article |
| CMS to Reconsider ‘Pod Labs’ in Proposed Rule |
| The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services plans to take a second look at "pod lab" issues this year, potentially as part of the 2008 Medicare physician fee schedule proposal due out this summer. Agency officials confirmed this with representatives of the College of American Pathologists, reported Gretchen Schaefer, CAP’s director of communications advocacy.
Full Article |
| New Waived Tests & Billing Codes |
| The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services has updated its list of clinical laboratory tests approved by the Food & Drug Administration as waived tests under CLIA (the Clinical Laboratory Improvement Amendments). The CPT codes for the following tests must have the modifier QW to be recognized as a waived test, effective April 1, 2007:
Full Article |
| ACLA Campaign to Highlight Value of Lab Testing |
| The American Clinical Laboratory Association is gearing up to launch a new outreach campaign to raise awareness—among legislators, policymakers, and the public—of the unique value of lab testing in assuring quality patient care. The campaign—Results for Life: Lab Testing, Better Health, Improved Outcomes—will kick off April 18 at a Capitol Hill gathering. Featured speakers include Rep. Charles Rangel (D-NY), chairman of the House Ways & Means Committee, which has key jurisdiction over lab payment and policy issues.
Full Article |
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