ACLA Launches 2024 ‘Stop Lab Cuts’ Campaign Urging Congress to Protect Access to Laboratory Services
Washington, D.C. – The American Clinical Laboratory Association (ACLA) today launched its 2024 Stop Lab Cuts campaign, including a series of digital advertisements urging Congress to protect patient access to essential laboratory services by passing the Saving Access to Laboratory Services Act (SALSA / H.R. 2377 / S. 1000) this year. The advertisements will appear across online publications in targeted states and on Beltway news sites, reaching policymakers, stakeholders, and patients.
If enacted, SALSA would make critical reforms to Medicare rate-setting for widely ordered laboratory services that provide daily, life-saving information for clinicians and patients. Laboratories providing tests that guide the diagnosis, treatment, and prevention of diabetes, opioid addiction, many cancers, and numerous other conditions have experienced three years of up to 10 percent cuts in reimbursement due to incomplete and unrepresentative payor rate data collected by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS). If Congress fails to act, the next round of Medicare cuts would impact about 800 commonly ordered tests, resulting in additional cuts of up to 15 percent for tests that are widely used to screen and manage many serious and chronic diseases.
“Clinical laboratory testing is foundational to patient care. The Stop Lab Cuts campaign highlights the impact of multi-year, double-digit cuts to Medicare reimbursement for tests used to diagnose, monitor, prevent and manage common diseases for more than 65 million seniors,” said ACLA President Susan Van Meter. “With continued bipartisan and bicameral support, Congress must enact SALSA this year to protect access to essential testing, support investment in innovation, and strengthen clinical laboratory infrastructure. The time is now for a permanent solution.”
The campaign website, StopLabCuts.org, serves as a central resource hub with background information and other helpful content. The website also keeps visitors informed of legislative activity and provides a direct opportunity to engage members of Congress on this important issue.
Background:
Absent congressional intervention, approximately 800 tests will see up to a 15 percent reimbursement cut on January 1, 2025. Since enactment of the Protecting Access to Medicare Act (PAMA), 72 percent of tests on the Clinical Laboratory Fee Schedule (CLFS) have faced payment cuts. Collectively, these cuts may threaten access to laboratory services for diagnosing and treating seniors with a wide range of conditions, including diabetes, heart disease, liver disease, kidney disease, prostate and colon cancers, anemia, viral and bacterial infections, and opioid dependency, among others. Additional cuts could weaken clinical laboratory infrastructure, making it more difficult to deliver routine health care and respond to the next public health crisis.
Additionally, ACLA’s multi-year legal challenge to the implementation of PAMA was resolved in ACLA’s favor with a ruling by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit. The Court of Appeals determined that CMS’ 2016 final rule defining an “applicable laboratory” was arbitrary and capricious. The court also found that laboratories have been harmed by PAMA’s implementation.
SALSA is led by Sens. Sherrod Brown (D-OH) and Thom Tillis (R-NC), and Representatives Richard Hudson (R-NC), Bill Pascrell, Jr. (D-NJ), Gus Bilirakis (R-FL), Scott Peters (D-CA), Brian Fitzpatrick (R-PA), Ann Kuster (D-NH), Larry Bucshon (R-IN), and Dan Crenshaw (R-TX). The bill has more than 50 bipartisan cosponsors in the House and Senate and garnered the support of more than 70 patient and provider organizations.
To learn more about the Stop Lab Cuts campaign, visit StopLabCuts.org.
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The American Clinical Laboratory Association (ACLA) is the national trade association representing leading laboratories that deliver essential diagnostic health information to patients and providers by advocating for policies that expand access to the highest quality clinical laboratory services, improve patient outcomes, and advance the next generation of personalized care.
