ASCP Endorses the RESULTS Act

• ASCP has endorsed legislation to fix flawed Medicare laboratory payment rates 

• The measure would block upcoming cuts in payment rates, excuse laboratories from a major reporting burden, and make payment rates more sustainable   

ASCP has joined with a coalition of 13 other pathology and laboratory medicine organizations in support of The Reforming and Enhancing Sustainable Updates to Laboratory Testing Services Act (The RESULTS Act; S. 2761 / H.R. 5269), a bipartisan, bicameral bill to reform the Medicare Clinical Laboratory Fee Schedule.  

In 2014, Congress passed The Protecting Access to Medicare Act (PAMA), which established a single national fee schedule that was intended to reflect market rates from all types of laboratories serving Medicare beneficiaries. Unfortunately, the system adopted by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) underrepresented market rates due to CMS’s narrowly crafted methodology that over-relied on data from large independent laboratories. Using data from less than 1 percent of clinical laboratories, CMS developed payment rates that cut nearly $4 billion from the CLFS in the first three years. 

The RESULTS Act would modify PAMA by using a third-party medical claims collector to handle data collection and reporting requirements. Among the benefits of the RESULTS Act are that it would: 

• Provide long-term stability to the Medicare CLFS and for clinical laboratories 

• Improve the accuracy of private payor-based Medicare CLFS rates  

• Prevent a fourth round of deep cuts to Medicare rates  

• Dramatically reduce PAMA data reporting requirements on laboratories 

ASCP looks forward to working with the American Clinical Laboratory Association, the sponsors of the legislation, and its coalition advocacy partners to secure meaningful reform of clinical laboratory payment rates. ASCP will be releasing an Action Alert in support of the RESULTS Act soon.