ASCP Notches Critical Win for Pathology, Laboratory Community on Impending Medicare Cuts

ASCP is declaring victory for our members as Congress approved on Dec. 9 legislation overriding a series of massive cuts to Medicare reimbursement for laboratory and pathology services. The measure averts payment reductions of almost 10 percent on pathology services and up to 15 percent on hundreds of laboratory tests. ASCP President Henry Rinder, MD, FASCP, applauded the news, saying he was “pleased Congress recognized the critical threats these cuts could have on patient care as well as the pathology and laboratory field.”  President Joe Biden, he noted, has signed the legislation into law. 

ASCP members worked hard to advance the legislation, writing congressional leaders and advancing several action alerts to generate thousands of messages to Congress about the importance of preventing these cuts from being implemented. President Rinder stated, “Thousands of ASCP members took action to advocate for fixes to these potential cuts, educating Congress about the urgent need to address Medicare payment flaws that could have threatened the ability of pathologists and laboratory professionals to care for our patients.” 

In advocating to prevent these Medicare cuts, ASCP coordinated its advocacy efforts with the American Medical Association and other medical societies and laboratory organizations to secure passage of S. 610, the “Protecting Medicare and American Farmers from Sequester Cuts Act.” Recognizing that the legislation approved by Congress delayed these cuts, rather than permanently blocking them, ASCP President Rinder reasoned that “this victory represents an important lifeline as it provides us with time to advocate for permanent fixes to several flawed Medicare policies.” ASCP members, he emphasized, will “need to continue advocating for permanent fixes to these and other key policies to enable us to provide quality care for our patients.”

The following outlines the key policies affecting Medicare payment under the Protecting Medicare and American Farmers from Sequester Cuts Act: 

• Delayed for one year a series of Protecting Access to Medicare Act (PAMA)-related cuts of up to 15 percent for hundreds of laboratory tests as well as delaying the next private payer data reporting requirement until Jan.1, 2023; 
• Provided a 3 percent update to the Medicare Physician Fee Schedule for calendar year 2022; 
• Delayed the application of a 4 percent cut to Medicare and other federal programs resulting from statutory “PAY-Go” requirements; and
• Extended the 2 percent Medicare “sequester” moratorium through March 31, 2022, re-implementing a 1 percent cut in the second quarter of 2022, and reinstating the 2 percent cut subsequently, funded by backend increased sequester cuts in fiscal year 2030.

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