ASCP Wage Survey, Advocacy Boost Medicare Physician Fee Schedule Pathology Payments

Following ASCP’s recommendations, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) has officially adopted ASCP’s 2019 Wage Survey data into the Medicare Physician Fee Schedule (PFS), a victory for ASCP’s pathologist and laboratory personnel members. The change, part of CMS’s PFS Final Rule, uses ASCP’s wage data to price the labor costs for the technical component of work performed by histotechnologists and histotechnicians. The Final Rule was released on November 1.

Using the ASCP wage data for these two labor categories significantly increases their labor values. For the histotechnologist labor category, the wage rate will increase to $0.64 per minute in CY 2023, a 73-percent increase from the $0.37 per minute rate provided in 2019. The change will also affect the labor rate for CMS’s histotechnologist / histotechnician labor category, which will increase to $0.60 per minute in CY 2023, a 70-percent increase from $0.35 per minute in 2019.

Elsewhere in the rule, wage rates for other laboratory personnel increase significantly for 2023. The electron microscopy technologist labor category, a type of specialized histotechnologist, will increase to $0.89, a 98-percent increase over its $0.45 per minute 2019 rate. The cytologist labor category will increase to $0.76 per minute in CY 2023, a 69-percent increase over the $0.35 per minute rate provided in 2019. For histotechnicians, the rate will move to $0.55 per minute in CY2023, an increase of 67-percent from the $0.35 per minute in 2019. For CMS’s histotechnician/ clinical laboratory assistant category, the labor rate will increase to $0.46, a 53-percent increase over the $0.30 per minute 2019 rate. These changes, supported by ASCP, are based on policy changes adopted by CMS in its CY 2022 final rule.

These significant changes were some of the most notable wage rate increases adopted by CMS over the last several years and helped mitigate the impact of cuts provided elsewhere in the PFS final rule. According to CMS, the overall impact of the final rule will result in a decrease in payment rates of four percent pathologists and three percent for clinical laboratories.  

ASCP has been working with the American Medical Association (AMA) to get Congress to override the cuts provided elsewhere in the rule. As part of this effort, ASCP is urging all of its members to ask Congress to reverse these cuts by participating in an Action Alert sponsored by the AMA. While the website was designed for its physician members, anyone can use the website to urge Congress to reverse these cuts and provide an increase to account for inflation. For help address these financial concerns, click here.