 | 03/11/10 - Senate Bill Blocks Physician Fee Cut Until Oct. 1 |
| he Senate on March 10 passed legislation that would extend the freeze on the Medicare fee update for pathology and other physician services until Oct. 1. Currently, the fees are frozen at their 2009 levels through March 31, canceling a cut of 21 percent under the Sustainable Growth Rate (SGR) formula used to calculate the annual fee update. Unless Congress acts, the cut is scheduled to kick in April 1.
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| 03/10/10 - CMS Releases Revised Guidance on EHR Rules |
| As promised at the Clinical Laboratory Improvement Advisory Committee (CLIAC) meeting last month, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) has released revised interpretive guidance relating to the electronic exchange of laboratory information and further identifying authorized individuals who may receive laboratory test results information.
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| 03/09/10 - SACGHS Finalizes Recommendations on Gene Patents |
| Committee will urge HHS Secretary to crack down on gene patent holders that hamper use of patented genes for diagnostic and research purposes.
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| 03/04/10 - Bio-Reference Continues Women’s Health Offerings With $5.5 Million Purchase of Lenetix Medical Screening |
| Long Island-based lab specializes in prenatal and genetic testing
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| 03/03/10 - Physician Fee Freeze Extended Through March |
| Congress has canceled the 21 percent cut in Medicare physician fees that took effect March 1 and extended the freeze on the fee update for one month, to April 1.
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| 02/24/10 - Agilent Sells Clinical Diagnostics Business |
| Hycor Biomedical sold to healthcare-focused private equity firm Linden.
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| 02/22/10 - New Medicare Billing Codes Issued for HIV Screening |
| Three new G codes have been issued by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) to bill for HIV screening of Medicare beneficiaries, the latest benefit to be added to the Part B preventive services package.
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| 02/12/10 - LabCorp’s Q409 Revenues Up 3.4% to $1.16 Billion |
| Drugs of abuse testing continues to drag down volume growth
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| 02/10/10 - CancerGuide Diagnostics Announces LabCorp Deal, Secures $10.5 Million in Private Financing Agreement |
| Company headed up by former LabCorp CSO/CMO, Myla Lai-Goldman, M.D.
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| 02/10/10 - Medco Health Services Acquires DNA Direct |
| Medco looks to boost its personalized medicine capabilities with the acquisition of five-year old genetic testing management firm.
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| 02/08/10 - Illinois Supreme Court Upholds Pathologist PC Billing |
| The Illinois Supreme Court has denied a petition to review the recent decision of the Appellate Court of Third Circuit of Illinois to allow professional component billing by pathologists in the Martis v. Pekin Memorial Hospital case.
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| 02/05/10 - Oral Arguments Heard in Gene Patents Lawsuit |
| Both sides in the landmark lawsuit challenging the patenting of human genes have asked a federal court to rule in their favor without a trial. At issue are patents granted to Myriad Genetics and the University of Utah Research Foundation for BRCA1 and BRCA2 genes, which are indicators of hereditary disposition to breast and ovarian cancer.
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| 01/28/10 - Carilion, Spectrum to Merge to Form Major Lab Company in MidAtlantic and Southern Regions of U.S. |
| Annual revenue of new company expected to top $300 million
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| 01/27/10 - MedPAC Considers Removing Some Lab Tests from In-Office Ancillary Services Exception |
| The Medicare Payment Advisory Commission (MedPAC) is considering three options for addressing problems results from in the in-office ancillary services exception to the Stark law, including excluding certain services from the exception (such as diagnostic tests that are not usually provided at the same time as the office visit).
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| 01/27/10 - Supreme Court Upholds Ruling on Forensic Lab Testimony |
| The U.S. Supreme Court has dismissed a challenge to its ruling last year that lab analysts and other forensic specialists must be available to testify in person at trials. The court ordered the case, Briscoe v. Virginia, back to state court for further consideration.
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| 01/25/10 - Quest’s Q409 Revenue Grows 2.7% to $1.8 Billion, Full Year 2009 Revenues Grow 2.8% to $7.5 Billion |
| But AP revenues down 1% for 2009
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| 01/21/10 - Genomic Health Introduces Colon Cancer Test |
| Oncotype DX colon cancer test can assess risk of recurrence in patients with stage II disease.
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| 01/14/10 - Predictive Biosciences Acquires OncoDiagnostic Laboratory |
| Molecular diagnostics company's purchase of CLIA-certified specialty laboratory will accelerate commercial launch of cancer tests.
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| 01/13/10 - Medicare Spending Up, Even as National Health Spending Slows |
| Medicare spending continues to grow even as the growth in nation’s total health tab slowed, in part due to the economic recession, according to the latest annual report on national health spending from the Office of the Actuary at the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services.
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| 01/12/10 - AHA Backs Revival of Lab Tax |
| he American Hospital Association has called for reviving the lab tax to replace the 1.75 percent reductions in the Medicare lab fee schedule contained in the Senate health care reform bill. In a letter to House speaker Nancy Pelosi and Senate majority leader Harry Reid, AHA favored the $750 million annual fee on clinical laboratory providers, saying the Medicare cuts would penalize hospital-based labs more than the new fee would.
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| 01/12/10 - ADA Issues New Recommendation on Diabetes Testing |
| New official guidelines for diabetes screening and diagnosis now include the hemoglobin A1C test.
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| 01/11/10 - ACLA Publishes Draft IT Specifications for Lab Interface |
| Framework open for public comment through March 10
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| 12/30/09 - Microarray Test for H1N1 Flu Is Latest Authorized for Emergency Use |
| The FDA has granted emergency use authorization (EUA) of the TessArray resequencing influenza A microarray detection panel for the detection of the 2009 H1N1 influenza A virus.
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| 12/30/09 - CMS Investigating NH Hospital and Lab |
| The Centers for Medicaid & Medicare Services (CMS) has begun an investigation into a New Hampshire hospital that already has been targeted by state investigators for a breach of patient medical records.
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| 12/28/09 - Medicare Lab Fees to be Cut 1.9 Percent Jan. 1 |
| Lab fees will be cut by 1.9 percent starting Jan. 1 under the 2010 calendar year Medicare clinical laboratory fee schedule released by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS). This marks the first time in the fee schedule’s 25-year history that the update has dropped into negative territory.
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| 12/28/09 - President Signs Bill Blocking Medicare Physician Fee Cut |
| e in their payment levels for the first two months of 2010, blocking a 21.2 percent cut that was to have taken effect Jan. 1. The freeze through Feb. 28 was approved in the 2010 defense spending bill signed into law by President Obama.
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| 12/21/09 - Clarient Acquires Applied Genomics |
| All-stock deal valued at up to $17.6 million gives cancer testing laboratory burgeoning portfolio of targeted cancer diagnostics and recently launched CLIA lab operation.
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| 12/21/09 - Medicare Physician Fees Frozen for Two Months, Averting Steep Cut Due Jan. 1 |
| he House and the Senate have approved a two-month freeze on Medicare physician payments, averting the 21.2 percent cut scheduled to take effect Jan. 1, 2010. This buys time for lawmakers to resolve differences over a fundamental overhaul of the Sustainable Growth Rate (SGR) payment system.
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| 12/17/09 - Abbott to Acquire Lab Software Company for $123 Million |
| Deal for Starlims Technologies would boost Abbott's portfolio of laboratory information management products.
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| 12/16/09 - Medical Groups Ask for Delay in Medicare Cuts |
| In anticipation of a 21.2 percent cut in Medicare Part B reimbursement on Jan. 1, 2010, about 115 medical groups Dec. 15 asked Congress for a month-to-six-weeks postponement while health reform legislation continues to be debated.
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| 12/15/09 - Welsh, Carson Buys N.C.-based Spectrum Labs from Apax Partners for $230 Million |
| Estimated revenue multiple could be approximately 1.1x
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| 12/12/09 - Medicare Finalizes Decision to Cover HIV Screening |
| The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services has finalized its decision to expand the Medicare preventive services benefit by adding coverage of voluntary HIV screening for beneficiaries, effective immediately. The agency earlier this year announced that it was considering this step.
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| 12/02/09 - CMS Issues Final Crosswalks for New 2010 Lab Codes |
| The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services has released its final decisions on establishing payment rates for new codes on Medicare’s 2010 Part B clinical laboratory fee schedule. The agency is using crosswalks to existing codes on the schedule to price 12 new CPT codes and two new G codes for drug screening.
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| 12/02/09 - Becton Dickinson Completes $275 Million Acquisition of HandyLab |
| BD has big plans for automated molecular diagnostic testing platform.
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| 12/02/09 - CMS Delays Policy Halting Payments to Providers Not in Agency Database |
| The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) will delay until April 5, 2010, implementation of a policy that would deny Medicare reimbursements to physicians and other Medicare Part B providers who are not in an agency database.
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| 12/01/09 - Sonic Healthcare Acquires East Side Clinical Laboratory for Estimated $18 Million to $27 Million |
| Purchase of Providence, R.I.-based lab is third U.S. acquisition in 2009
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| 11/24/09 - LabCorp Acquires New York-Based Centrex Clinical Laboratories |
| Network of four regional labs owned by Faxton-St. Luke’s Healthcare system in center of the state
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| 11/23/09 - Labs, Pathologists Have a Lot Riding on Senate Health Care Reform Debate |
| The Democratic leadership bill now being debated on the Senate floor includes several key provisions that impact clinical labs and pathologists.
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| 11/23/09 - House Passes Medicare Physician Fee Reform |
| The House on Nov. 19 approved legislation (H.R. 3961) that would cancel a cut in Medicare physician fees due Jan. 1, 2010, and overhaul the annual fee update formula. The vote was 243-183, mostly along party lines. The measure now goes to the Senate where it faces an uphill battle because its cost of nearly $210 billion over 10 years is not paid for.
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| 11/23/09 - House Passes Medicare Physician Fee Reform |
| The House on Nov. 19 approved legislation (H.R. 3961) that would cancel a cut in Medicare physician fees due Jan. 1, 2010, and overhaul the annual fee update formula. The vote was 243-183, mostly along party lines. The measure now goes to the Senate where it faces an uphill battle because its cost of nearly $210 billion over 10 years is not paid for.
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| 11/18/09 - House Set to Act on Medicare Physician Fee Fix |
| The House this week is expected to consider legislation (H.R. 3961) that would cancel a cut in Medicare physician fees due Jan. 1 and overhaul the annual fee update formula. The House could act Nov. 18, but more likely on the 19th, said majority leader Steny Hoyer (D-Md.)
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| 11/18/09 - Gene Patent Lawsuit May Proceed, Court Rules |
| Pathology groups and other plaintiffs in a landmark legal challenge to the patenting of human genes cleared the first hurdle when a federal district judge this month refused to dismiss their lawsuit and ruled they had legal standing to pursue their case. Further arguments in the case are tentatively set for Dec. 11.
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| 11/18/09 - deCODE Genetics Files for Bankruptcy |
| Iceland-based genetic analysis firm files for Chapter 11 and agrees to sell research subsidiary and drug development arm.
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| 11/10/09 - House-Passed Health Care Reform Bill:Impact on Medicare Plans, Providers |
| Health care reform legislation passed by the House Nov. 7 by a vote of 220 to 215 would make major reductions in Medicare payments to managed care plans and fee-for-service providers, but also open the door to new business arrangements that reward quality performance in delivering services to Medicare beneficiaries, including clinical lab and pathology services.
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| 11/10/09 - G-2 Reports’ Managed Care Survey Reveals Pricing Remaining Flat in 2009 and 2010 |
| Labs also grappling with little to no contracting leverage
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| 11/10/09 - House to Consider Physician Fee Fix Next Week |
| The House is set to consider a fundamental reform of the Medicare physician payment system (H.R. 3961) during the week of Nov. 16, Democratic leaders say.
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| 11/10/09 - Bostwick Labs Acquires Commonwealth Biotechnologies Businesses |
| Pathology reference laboratory gains contract research organization, DNA testing lab.
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| 11/03/09 - House to Consider Medicare Physician Fee Fix Separately |
| Pathologist alert: The House will consider a fundamental change to the Medicare physician payment system in a bill (H.R. 3961) separate from broader health care reform legislation (H.R. 3962) introduced Oct. 29, said Democratic leaders.
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| 10/28/09 - Cuts in Medicare Lab Fees: How Much and How Long? |
| The annual update to the Medicare clinical laboratory fee schedule is being hammered to produce savings in health care reform legislation approved by the House and the Senate and now being readied for floor action and a vote. For labs, the question is, how much of a hit will they take in a final version and for how many years.
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| 10/28/09 - SACGHS Recommends Exemption from Gene Patent Infringement in Clinical Care |
| The Secretary's Advisory Committee on Genetics, Health, and Society (SACGHS) has agreed on a recommendation that, if adopted, would clear the way for medical researchers to study more genes and more pathologists to provide genetic tests based on already-patented human genes without the threat of a patent infringement lawsuit.
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| 10/28/09 - LabCorp’s Q3 Revenues Grow Over 4% to $1.13 Billion; Revenue-Per-Requisition Growth Is 4.3% |
| Like Quest, Volume Growth Remains Flat
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| 10/28/09 - Catholic Health Initiatives Launches Outreach Growth Strategy by Assuming 25% Equity in PAML |
| Deal will expand PAML’s hospital outreach presence through Denver-based Catholic health care system
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| 10/22/09 - Medicare Physician Fees: Senate Rejects Bid For Quick, Long-Term Fix |
| The Senate on Oct. 21 voted down a bill, introduced by Debbie Stabenow (D-Mich.) and backed by the American Medical Association and the AARP, that would cancel the 21 percent cut in Medicare physician fees due in 2010 and repeal the Sustainable Growth Rate (SGR) system used to calculate the update, which has triggered cuts over the past seven years.
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| 10/20/09 - Quest’s Q3 Revenue Grows 3.9% to $1.9 Billion; Revenue-Per-Requisition Grows 3.4% |
| Lagging drug testing continues to slow overall volume growth
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| 10/20/09 - With New Gene Patents, Myriad Genetics Developing Predictive Test for Pancreatic Cancer |
| Molecular diagnostics company acquires from Johns Hopkins University exclusive license to patents covering PALB2 gene mutations.
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| 10/15/09 - FDA Clears Nanosphere's Respiratory Virus Test, Automated Instrument |
| Automated molecular test can detect influenza A, influenza B, and respiratory syncytial virus.
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| 10/14/09 - Laboratory Test Values Proposed as Expanded Data Collection Point |
| The Medicare Payment Advisory Commission (MedPAC) is poised to approve eight recommendations on data collection requirements comparing quality between traditional Medicare and Medicare Advantage plans. Laboratory test values would be one of the data points.
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| 10/14/09 - Geisinger’s Proven Diagnostics Collaborates With ViraCor-IBT Labs |
| Partnership will expand Proven's allergy and infectious disease testing menu
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| 10/14/09 - Senate Finance Committee Approves Medicare Lab Fee Cuts |
| The sweeping health care reform bill that the Senate Finance Committee approved Oct. 13 by a 14-9 margin includes a series of provisions that would reduce the annual update to the Medicare lab fee schedule, starting in 2011, to help pay for systemwide reform.
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| 10/13/09 - Axial Biotech Launches Test to Predict Scoliosis Progression |
| Saliva-based genetic test can help predict the risk of progression of scoliosis in patients who are from 9 through 13 years old.
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