Previous Advocacy Updates

The CAP urged the Medicare program to discard arbitrary reimbursement discounts to pathology services, including immunohistochemistry.

Following advocacy by the CAP and laboratory community, Congress sent a letter urging the CMS to reconsider and rewrite key provisions of its PAMA rule.

Register to view our presentation on the CMS' plans to move forward with new PAMA rules affecting laboratory operations and future CLFS Medicare pay.

CAP members urged their elected officials to sign a letter calling on the CMS to reconsider key provisions in its Medicare CLFS reforms.

The CAP called for significant changes to the regulation that revamps the Medicare clinical laboratory fee schedule and creates new mandates in 2016.

During a November 5 webinar, the CAP will explain reimbursement and policy changes to pathology services in the 2016 Medicare Physician Fee Schedule.

View the CAP's webinar, "The 2016 Medicare Physician Fee Schedule's Impact on Pathology Services," and read more advocacy news in this week's issue.

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) finalized increases sought by the CAP for pathology services, including immunohistochemistry and in situ hybridization, in the final 2016 Medicare Physician Fee Schedule published on October 30.

As the CAP continues to engage with Congress on LDT oversight, the House released a second discussion draft of legislation to provide oversight on diagnostic testing.

The CAP welcomes the Association of Pathology Chairs’ endorsement of the CAP’s legislative proposal for oversight of laboratory-developed tests.

Citing the IOM's Improving Diagnosis in Health Care, the CAP urged NY officials to repeal rules banning pathologist-patient discussions of lab tests.

The CMS updated its ICD-10 transition guidance ahead of the October 1 deadline when all practices are required to start using new diagnosis codes.

A new study by health policy researchers strengthens the case to close the self-referral loophole that leads to overutilization of medical services.

An IOM study on diagnostic errors recommends greater integration into the health care team and additional payment mechanisms for pathologists.

Many pathologists may not know that 15% of your Merit-based Incentive Payment System (MIPS) bonus is based on affirming that you do certain quality improvement activities in your practice. The CAP has identified several Improvement Activities options to help members get the most of their 2017 MIPS reporting tool.

The CAP’s efforts to protect the value of pathology services were adopted by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) in final Medicare regulations affecting reimbursements next year.

The CAP advocated for reducing regulatory burdens on pathologists participating in the Medicare Merit-based Incentive Payment System (MIPS) and ensuring pathologists are fairly compensated in MIPS.

The CAP advocated for the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) to accept all the physician work recommendations for pathology services used to calculate professional component and global payment rates in the proposed 2018 Medicare Physician Fee Schedule, which was released in July.

CAP Advocacy consistently works with Medicare officials to help ease the negative effects of the evolving Quality Payment Program (QPP) reporting requirements for pathologists and laboratories. Through a strategy developed by the Council on Government and Professional Affairs and Economic Affairs Committee, the CAP advocates to ensure pathologists can participate in the Quality Payment Program by providing resources to its members as the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services begins implementation of payment reforms in 2017.

The Medicare program published the 2018 clinical laboratory fee schedule utilizing a new methodology based on private payer rates for tests collected from a small segment of providers. The CAP has called this collection process flawed and continued to urge the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services to delay of the implementation of the new fee schedule.