A bipartisan group of Senators and Representatives recently introduced the Saving Access to Laboratory Services Act (SALSA) to fix problems with the Medicare Clinical Laboratory Fee Schedule (CLFS). The new legislation would simplify the data reporting process by directing the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) to use statical sampling to collect data from of all major types of laboratories to reduce the regulatory burden and provide more accurate payment rates.
The measure addresses problems with the Protecting Access to Medicare Act (PAMA), which resulted in a flawed CLFS. When PAMA was enacted, CMS established a new fee schedule that imposed a significant regulatory burden on clinical laboratories. It also created sub-market prices and prompted private insurers to impose massive cuts in prices for laboratory services. The result has harmed the laboratory workforce, putting downward pressure on wages and employment, and prompted further consolidation of the laboratory industry.
ASCP hopes that in the long-term, sustainability for lab reimbursement will support strengthen the clinical laboratory infrastructure (including workforce) to protect public health and innovation in tomorrow’s diagnostics while providing robust access to improve patient health.
As a
strong supporter of this legislation, ASCP urges members and their colleagues to use the following
Action Alert to send a message to Congress to enact this legislation.
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For more information regarding ASCP's advocacy initiatives and policy positions, please contact ASCP's Center for Public Policy at (202) 408-1110.
ASCP ePolicy News is supported by an unrestricted grant from Hologic.
