Laboratory Question for the Week of November 13, 2017

Question:

Do you have any idea whether CMS will go ahead with the preliminary CLFS rates or make changes due to the industry’s negative response?

Answer:

There is no word on the street yet as to what the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) will do about the preliminary Clinical Laboratory Fee Schedule (CLFS) rates. It’s wide-open speculation as to what will happen. Will CMS proceed and finalize the preliminary rates for 2018? Will the agency delay implementation and consider the recommendations and demands submitted by the industry? The answer is that no one knows for sure.