TAG:
private payer
Why It Matters That Your Lab Has Low Test Prices
By R. Lewis Dark | From the Volume XXIV No. 8 – June 5, 2017 Issue
TODAY, THE LAB INDUSTRY FACES A CONTRADICTION when setting prices for individual lab tests. At one extreme, a certain sector of labs seeking to win exclusive managed care contracts sets high-volume routine test prices at or below the fully-loaded cost to perform those tests. At another extreme, labor…
Proposed Bill in Congress Would Regulate LDTs
By Joseph Burns | From the Volume XXIV No. 7 – May 15, 2017 Issue
CEO SUMMARY: As one response to the FDA’s efforts to regulate laboratory-developed tests, some large labs and IVD manufacturers organized the Diagnostic Test Working Group. It has engaged with congressional officials to draft legislation that would establish a risk-based review of both …
Is CMS Manipulating Data to Increase Medicare Fee Schedule Cuts?
By Mary Van Doren | From the Volume XXIV No. 5 – April 3, 2017 Issue
This is an excerpt from a 2,150-word article in the April 3, 2017, issue of THE DARK REPORT. The complete article is available for a limited time to all readers, and available at all times to paid members of the Dark Intelligence Group. CEO SUMMARY: E…
CMS Extends Reporting of Payer Prices by 60 Days
By Joseph Burns | From the Volume XXIV No. 5 – April 3, 2017 Issue
CEO SUMMARY: Last Thursday, the federal Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services said it was extending the deadline for certain labs to report their private payer lab test prices by an additional 60 days, until May 30. Statements by CMS officials indicate that either or both the number …
Will Medicare Lab Test Fee Cuts Happen in 2018?
By R. Lewis Dark | From the Volume XXIV No. 5 – April 3, 2017 Issue
CLINICAL LABORATORIES THROUGHOUT THE UNITED STATES ARE BRACING for what Medicare officials say will be fee cuts of $400 million in 2018 alone, followed by additional cuts that will total $5.4 billion over 10 years. Of great concern to community laboratories, small and rural hospitals, and physician …
Labs Ask: Does PAMA Statute Prevent Legal Challenges?
By Joseph Burns | From the Volume XXIV No. 4 – March 13, 2017 Issue
SINCE MEDICARE OFFICIALS PUBLISHED the final rule for lab test market price reporting of private payer prices last year, clinical lab industry consultants and lawyers have raised serious criticisms of the rule. The critics recognized that CMS officials wrote a final rule for the Protecting Access to…
PAMA Data Projections Led to Decision to Sell Lab
By Joseph Burns | From the Volume XXIV No. 3 – February 21, 2017 Issue
CEO SUMMARY: Following passage of the Protecting Access to Medicare Act of 2014, officials at PeaceHealth and PeaceHealth Laboratories began to model the financial effect this law would have on this long-established hospital lab outreach program. Based on projections of a 20% cut in reven…
PAMA Fee Cuts a Factor in Outreach Lab’s Sale
By R. Lewis Dark | From the Volume XXIV No. 3 – February 21, 2017 Issue
THROUGHOUT THE WORLD, THE UNITED STATES IS ENVIED for the quality and ready access to medical laboratory tests that it delivers to physicians and their patients. Yes, there are criticisms that healt…
Lab Innovators Advocate Need for Clinical Lab 2.0
By Robert Michel | From the Volume XXIV No. 2 – January 30, 2017 Issue
CEO SUMMARY: It is generally recognized that the clinical lab industry faces a financial squeeze of unprecedented dimensions. Lab test prices are falling steadily and more major cuts are coming to Medicare Part B fees in just 11 months. At the same time, obtaining favorable coverage and r…
Health System Lab Is Genotyping To Identify Best Drugs for Patients
By Joseph Burns | From the Volume XXIV No. 2 – January 30, 2017 Issue
CEO SUMMARY: One essential element of precision medicine will be the regular use of pharmacogenomic testing to provide additional guidance to physicians when selecting the most appropriate therapeutics and optimal dose for each individual patient. Despite the reluctance of private payers …
CURRENT ISSUE

Volume XXXII, No. 13 – September 15, 2025
The Dark Report examines a new bill that would reform PAMA and avoid reimbursement rate cuts scheduled for January 2026. Clinical laboratory leaders are urged to make their voices heard in Congress. Also, an expert describes how labs can fix pre-analytical errors and avoid disaster.
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