By Joseph Burns, from the Volume XXI NO. 10 - July 21, 2014 issue
CEO SUMMARY: Many independent laboratories serving patients in Florida are unhappy about the decision by UnitedHealth (UNH) to initiate a pilot program that calls for LabCorp’s BeaconLBS subsidiary to handle prior authorization for certain lab tests. UNH’s laboratory benefit management program will commence on October 1, 2014. Just 13 laboratories are currently listed as network
By Joseph Burns, from the Volume XXI NO. 1 - January 13, 2014 issue
CEO SUMMARY: It turns out that labs serving Tricare patients are going unpaid for certain LDTs, molecular, and genetic tests. The issue of nonpayment began in January 2013 when Tricare stopped paying for these tests that were billed under the new molecular CPT codes that replaced the previous stacking codes. Among the tests in question
By Joseph Burns, from the Volume XX No. 8 - June 17, 2013 issue
CEO SUMMARY: Non-payment of molecular test claims for the first five months of 2013 is not the only financial disruption for labs that perform these tests. Reports are coming in about how Medicare contractors, Medicaid programs, and private payers are declining to pay claims based on rulings that the molecular tests fail to meet medical
By Robert Michel, from the Volume XX No. 8 - June 17, 2013 issue
CEO SUMMARY: One after another, a series of breaking news stories points to more rough waters ahead for the entire clinical lab industry. Of greatest interest is the ongoing questions about when clinical labs and pathology groups will get paid for the molecular test claims they have submitted to government and private payers since January
By Joseph Burns, from the Volume XX No. 7 - May 28, 2013 issue
CEO SUMMARY: Having gone unpaid since January 1 for the 114 new molecular CPT codes, many clinical labs and pathology groups have stopped running these tests or laid off staff. Some are considering closing their doors. Evidence indicates that certain Medicare contractors are deciding that some molecular tests are not medically necessary. Medicare officials launched
By Robert Michel, from the Volume XX No. 5 - April 15, 2013 issue
SEEING THAT PALMETTO, GBA, the nation’s largest Medicare Administration Contractor, seems to be at the center of the controversy over how Medicare is to pay for molecular pathology (MoPath) tests, THE DARK REPORT sent a list of questions to Palmetto Vice President Mike Barlow. Here are the questions and his answers.
Q: Is it true that
By Robert Michel, from the Volume XX No. 5 - April 15, 2013 issue
EDITOR’S NOTE: Submitted by Lâle White, CEO of XIFIN, Inc., of Carlsbad, California, this letter describes the problems caused by the Medicare program’s failure, as of January 1, 2013, to be ready to process and reimburse lab test claims for more than 100 new molecular diagnostic CPT codes.
Dear Editor:
Everyone should read Scott Gottlieb, M.D.’s Forbes
By Joseph Burns, from the Volume XX No. 5 - April 15, 2013 issue
CEO SUMMARY: CMS and its contractors had ample opportunity to implement a new reimbursement system but failed to act in a timely manner, stated an expert familiar with the problem. The result is that laboratories, particularly those that have one or two proprietary molecular tests, are being harmed needlessly, he said. Without regular payments for
By Joseph Burns, from the Volume XX No. 2 - February 11, 2013 issue
CEO SUMMARY: Many of the recently issued reimbursement rates for molecular diagnostic tests are inadequate and in fact are lower than the cost of running the tests, lab experts say. Smaller laboratories that specialize in developing and selling molecular tests could be forced to close. As many as 20 or more molecular labs operate in
