On Sept. 17, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) announced that it’s delaying an interoperability rule governing how payors are expected to exchange with one another. However, the … [Read more...]
Interoperability
CMS Delays Payer-to-Payer Data Exchange but Prior Authorization Rules Remain on Track
September 23, 2021
FDA
FDA Hikes Premarket Application User Fees by 2.5 Percent
September 23, 2021
Applying for FDA premarket review of medical devices will be more expensive next year. On August 2, the agency announced that it’s raising premarket approval (PMA) user fees by 2.5 percent in FY … [Read more...]
Compliance Alert
OIG Calls on CMS to Recover Phlebotomy Travel Allowance Overpayments
September 23, 2021
If your lab bills Medicare for phlebotomy travel allowances, a Medicare Administrative Contractor (MAC) claims audit may be in your future. The threat stems from a new Office of Inspector General … [Read more...]
Reimbursement
Biden Pulls Plug on Automatic Medicare Coverage for MCIT “Breakthrough” Devices
September 23, 2021
In a reminder of why politics and presidential elections matter so much, the Biden administration announced that it’s scrapping a Trump regulation that would have automatically provided initial … [Read more...]
Independent Labs
CMS Clarifies IDTF Billing, Coding and Coverage Rules
September 23, 2021
In September, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) issued new guidance making some important clarifications on Independent Diagnostic Testing Facility (IDTF) billing requirements. … [Read more...]
COVID-19
White House Rolls Out Plan to Increase Nationwide Rapid, Point-of-Care COVID-19 Testing
September 21, 2021
Much has changed since the spring when Abbott, LabCorp, Quest and other major COVID-19 testing labs were demobilizing their coronavirus infrastructure and pivoting to normal business. The surge of new … [Read more...]
Billing and Coding
Medicare to Reimburse 6 New CLIA-Waived Tests, Starting Oct. 1
September 6, 2021
The FDA recently approved a half a dozen assays as CLIA-waived tests that Medicare will reimburse when properly billed and coded by CLIA-certified labs. On Aug. 6, CMS sent out coding instructions to … [Read more...]
Compliance Alert
OSHA Orders Inspectors to Use the Hammer to Enforce New COVID-19 Protocols
September 2, 2021
On June 21, OSHA issued a new Emergency Temporary Standard (ETS) requiring labs, hospitals and other providers to take extensive measures to protect frontline workers against risk of COVID-19 … [Read more...]
National Lab Reporter Newsletter Archive
September 1, 2021
By clicking on any of the links below you agree that you are the only person who is accessing your single user NLR subscription license and that you are not sharing your username and password with … [Read more...]
Current Issue of NLR
August 30, 2021
Before You Download Please read the following user agreement and confirm your acceptance of the terms before you download NLR content: I agree that I am the the only person who is accessing my … [Read more...]
