TAG:
mopath
Test Utilization Targeted by UnitedHealth, LabCorp
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 managemen…
Tricare, DOD Not Paying for MoPath Codes, LDTs
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 prev…
Big Lab Industry Stories Reveal Trouble Ahead
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 submi…
Labs Face Consequences from MolDx Test ‘Mess’
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 ruli…
Much Uncertainty About Pay for Molecular Codes
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…
How CMS ‘Mismanaged’ Pricing of Molecular Tests
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 be…
Medicare Taken to Task about Molecular Test Pricing Method
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 mo…
Palmetto: ‘We Are Processing & Paying Clean Claims without Undue Delay’
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…
Low 2013 Molecular Rates May Bankrupt Some Labs
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…
CURRENT ISSUE
Volume XXVII, No. 18 – December 28, 2020
There are several surprises in The Dark Report’s annual list of the Top 10 Lab Stories for 2020. Despite the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic dominating every aspect of clinical care, social life, and economic activities since March, at least one major health insurer pushed ahead with two major policies governing how labs can submit claims. In another big story, for the first time in decades, the federal Anti-Kickback Statute and the Stark Law were revised with new final rules. Also, Medicare lab test spending increased in 2019 despite PAMA cuts.
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