Laboratory Reimbursement-Competitive Bidding and After

摘要

Will 2008 be considered a watershed year for clinical laboratory Medicare reimbursement? Early in the year laboratories faced a dismal reimbursement future with a competitive bidding demonstration project scheduled to begin in San Diego in July, along with a soon-to-be announced second site. Fast forward to August and Congress has repealed CMS's authority to implement the demonstration, legislation has been introduced to re-engineer the laboratory fee schedule, and laboratories are poised to receive a 4.5% update beginning January 1, 2009. Let's look at how these paradigm changes occurred and the potential impact in the future.