Attorneys for the American Clinical Laboratory Association asked the federal court for summary judgment in its lawsuit challenging the legality of the new PAMA-based Medicare Part B fee schedule for … [Read more...]
PAMA
CMS Ignores Flawed Processes, Finalizes 2018 PAMA Pricing; Labs Need to Take Immediate Action to Offset Impending Lean Times
December 4, 2017
By Kyle Fetter bio The final 2018 clinical laboratory fee schedule (CLFS) is out, and it is evident that the argument that the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) PAMA … [Read more...]
FEE SCHEDULES
OPPS 2018: Revised Payment Rates & a New ADLT Date of Service Exemption
November 13, 2017
With all of the PAMA commotion, CMS's publication of the 2018 Medicare Hospital and Ambulatory Surgical Outpatient Prospective Payment System (OPPS) final rule has flown under the radar. In case you … [Read more...]
TOP OF THE NEWS
PAMA-Geddon: CMS Slashes 2018 Part B Lab Rates
October 24, 2017
Resisting industry pleas for a delay, CMS is sticking to the Jan. 1 start date for the new PAMA payment system. Even worse, it's sticking to its misguided formula for pricing lab tests. Result: The … [Read more...]
MEDICARE COVERAGE
“Applicable Labs”: The Fly in the PAMA Market-Based Pricing Ointment
October 23, 2017
The lab industry has no objection to basing Medicare payments for lab tests on the actual rates charged to payors in the private market. What has the industry so upset is how CMS has executed the … [Read more...]
PAMA
Draft 2018 CLFS Reveals Fundamental Flaws in PAMA Reporting Exercise; Time to Take Action
October 2, 2017
By Lâle White bio As XIFIN predicted, the PAMA reporting exercise has resulted in significant proposed laboratory fee cuts. In fact, the multi-year decrease for the top 20 laboratory tests … [Read more...]
FEE SCHEDULES
CORRECTION: Molecular Assays Stave Off Big Cuts in 2017 Clinical Laboratory Fee Schedule
May 17, 2017
Editor's Note: The lead story in the November 25, 2016 issue of LIR is about changes to the 2017 Clinical Laboratory Fee Schedule affecting reimbursement for clinical laboratory tests. The … [Read more...]
REIMBURSEMENT
CMS Enforcement Discretion Eases Pressure on Labs
April 25, 2017
After we went to press last month, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) announced just in the nick of time that it wouldn't impose civil monetary penalties against labs which failed to … [Read more...]
FEE SCHEDULES
2017 Clinical Laboratory Fee Schedule: The 3 Changes Affecting Your Reimbursement
November 25, 2016
The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) issued the final 2017 Clinical Laboratory Fee Schedule (CLFS) on Nov. 21. The winners: The small group of labs that provide new specialty molecular … [Read more...]
