ASCP is urging members to join the effort to fix problems with Medicare’s Clinical Laboratory Fee Schedule (CLFS). The CLFS has been beset with problems since Congress enacted the Protecting Access to Medicare Act (PAMA) in 2014. That legislation caused significant cuts to Medicare and private payer payment rates for laboratory services. This has eroded the financial stability of many labs, particularly those at small- and medium-sized hospitals and independent laboratories.
ASCP is partnering with other laboratory and pathology organizations to address these problems by urging Congress to pass the Saving Access to Laboratory Services Act (SALSA). This legislation attempts to improve payment rates by including more data from smaller laboratories that do not possess the economies of scale of larger labs. The measure would also reduce reporting burden using statistical sampling.
As a
strong supporter of this legislation, ASCP urges its members and their colleagues to use the following
Action Alert, developed by the American Clinical Laboratory Association, to send Congress a message to enact this legislation.
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