COLA is inviting clinical laboratories to participate in a new survey to gather data about how cuts in Medicare’s Clinical Laboratory Fee Schedule (CLFS) are impacting their services to patients.
Since the implementation of the Protecting Access to Medicare Act (PAMA) of 2014, clinical laboratories have experienced as much as a 20 percent cut in Medicare payments to many of the routine tests that are so vital to patient care. COLA Inc.’s latest survey will provide an updated snapshot of the impact of cuts, to date, as well as the projected impact of future cuts. The new COLA Inc. survey also seeks data on how the CLFS cuts are now influencing private payer rates.
COLA’s latest survey is timely with the introduction of H.R. 3584, the Laboratory Access for Beneficiaries Act (LAB Act). H.R. 3584 delays the next round of data reporting to give laboratories one more year to report private payor data to the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS). The bill also calls upon the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine to conduct a study to review the methodology used to develop the private payor rate-based clinical laboratory fee schedule under the Medicare program.
COLA is a leader in gathering data related to the value of near patient testing to physicians in their practice as well as data about how PAMA-related cuts are impacting patient access to testing.
“Our first study revealed how important laboratory information is to physicians in the diagnosis, treatment, and care of their patients,” said John Daly, MD, Chief Medical Officer of COLA, Inc. “COLA continues to be especially concerned about the impact of these cuts on rural communities.”
Participation in this seven-question survey is confidential. Responses will be aggregated and shared with policy makers on Capitol Hill. Laboratories nationwide are encouraged to participate in the new survey. After the survey is closed, COLA plans to also make the data available on its website www.NearPatientTestingMatters.org.
