Laboratory Question for the Week of January 17, 2022

Question:

Are there any updates for PAMA in 2022?

Answer:

Congress has again delayed implementation of lab reimbursement cuts and payment data reporting required by PAMA with the passage of the “Protecting Medicare and American Farmers from Sequester Cuts Act.” On Thursday, December 9th, the Senate voted for the passage of an end-of-year package that included the delay of PAMA 2022, which was scheduled to reduce Medicare Clinical Laboratory Fee Schedule (CLFS) rates by 15% for nearly 600 clinical laboratory tests. The act also suspended the two percent sequester cuts to Medicare reimbursement that would have also impacted lab payments. Under the legislation, the PAMA payment reporting period is now delayed to Jan. 1, 2023, to March 31, 2023, while the rate reductions called for under PAMA will be phased in beginning in 2023 rather than next year.

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