Another legislative focus for the lab industry this year is to ensure that Medicare lab fees get their scheduled CPI update in 2010. With Congress expected to approve a Medicare physician fee increase, lab groups want to make sure that cuts are not made in Part B spending to help pay for it.

As Senate and House committees gear up to consider health care reform bills this month, the Clinical Laboratory Coalition (CLC) has been quick to pitch its priorities in the run-up to legislative action. CLC members include national lab associations, national lab companies, and device manufacturers.

In comments to Congress and the White House, the coalition urges that clinical lab testing be specifically included in any health benefits package, with no patient copay, and that incentives be provided to promote wellness and prevention programs and personalized medicine.

The health care reform debate is a rare opportunity to raise issues beyond reimbursement, says Vince Stine, Ph.D., director of government affairs for the American Association for Clinical Chemistry. “Typically we are on the chopping block. Now, we can paint a larger picture of our role and interests in improving health care,” he told NIR.

Mark Birenbaum, administrator of the American Association of Bioanalysts, agrees that health care reform is a new and challenging legislative focus for the industry. “We will be watching to see how labs fit into the proposals being considered,” he told NIR.

June 8, 2009 - Table of Contents

NIR June 8, 2009 (full PDF issue)

Lab Groups Weigh in on Health Care Reform Proposals

Health IT Bonus Alert for Pathologists

HHS Appoints Members to New Health IT Advisory Panels

Focus on: Health Care Reform: Obama: It’s ‘Make or Break’ Time for Health System Overhaul

Medicare Claims Advisory: ‘Date of Service’ Clarified for Pathology Global Billing

Should MedPAC Have More Say in Medicare Payment Policy?