Lab Stakeholders Discuss PAMA Reform

By Stephen Beale | From the Volume XXXII, No. 10 – July 14, 2025 Issue

CEO SUMMARY: Medical labs need to brace for more action to counter pending test reimbursement rate cuts under PAMA. Although labs have received PAMA reprieves from Congress over the last few years, laboratory associations argue that Congress needs to vote on long-term reforms rather than …

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Insights from Q3 2024 Earnings Calls Point to a More Robust Lab Market

By Robert Michel | From the Volume XXXI No. 15 – November 4, 2024 Issue

FOR THE THIRD QUARTER OF 2024 (Q3 2024), both of the nation’s largest publicly traded laboratories—Labcorp…

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Identifying Current Lab Trends from Labcorp & Quest Experience

By Robert Michel | From the Volume XXXI, No. 11 – August 12, 2024 Issue

CEO SUMMARY: Many different factors influence the operations of clinical laboratories in the United States today. One good source of competitive business intelligence is for lab administrators to follow the quarterly earnings calls of the nation’s two biggest public lab corporations. Wi…

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Labcorp, Quest Diagnostics Discuss Q4 & 2023 Earnings

By Robert Michel | From the Volume XXXI, No. 4 – March 18, 2024 Issue

DURING RECENT EARNINGS CALLS WITH FINANCIAL ANALYSTS AND INVESTORS, both Labcorp and Quest Diagnostics discussed their fourth quarter (Q4) and full year 2023 financial results. Each reported some stability in the market for clinical laboratory testing services, reflected in the numbe…

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Congress Delays PAMA Fee Cuts, Passage of SALSA Act Is Goal

By Robert Michel | From the Volume XXX, Number 18 – December 26, 2023 Issue

ONCE AGAIN, THE CLINICAL LABORATORY INDUSTRY DODGED THE MEDICARE FEE-CUT BULLET. Last month, Congress passed a bill that included a one-year reprieve to the impending PAMA reimbursement cuts that were scheduled to take place on January 1, 2024. The lab industry…

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SALSA Bill Resurfaces, Poised to Reduce Upcoming PAMA Cuts

By Scott Wallask | From the Volume XXX, No. 14 – October 2, 2023 Issue

ANOTHER ROUND OF STIFF PRICE CUTS TO THE MEDICARE PART B CLINICAL LABORATORY FEE SCHEDULE (CLFS) is just months away, with the provisions of the Protecting Access to Medicare Act (PAMA) set to resume on Jan. 1. In…

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PAMA Cuts Have Simply Been Kicked Down the Road

By R. Lewis Dark | From the Volume XXX, No. 1 – January 3, 2023 Issue

PAYMENT RATE CUTS FOR CLINICAL LABORATORY TESTS, called for under the Protecting Access to Medicare Act of 2014 (PAMA), have been avoided temporarily—again.  A down-to-the-wire bill in Congress to keep the federal government funded into the new year in…

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Congress Averts PAMA Cuts to Lab Test Rates for 2023

By Scott Wallask | From the Volume XXX, No. 1 – January 3, 2023 Issue

CONGRESS ENACTED LEGISLATION LAST MONTH that suspends implementation of the next round of price cuts to the Medicare Part B Clinical Laboratory Fee Schedule (CLFS) that was scheduled to take effect on Jan. 1. This is a welcome development for the medical laboratory industry….

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2022’s Top 10 Lab Stories Confirm Challenging Times

By Scott Wallask | From the Volume XXIX, No. 17 – December 12, 2022 Issue

CEO SUMMARY: There are valuable insights to be gleaned from The Dark Report’s “Top 10 Lab Industry Stories for 2022.” Several of this year’s story picks involve external forces reshaping healthcare in the United States in profound ways. Other story picks for 2022 illustrate …

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VALID and SALSA Acts Still Pending in Congress

By Scott Wallask | From the Volume XXIX, No. 16 – November 21, 2022 Issue

CEO SUMMARY: Both the pending VALID Act and SALSA Act continue to push ahead as 2022 comes to an end. Meanwhile, a new bill centered on the Physician Fee Schedule may protect pathologist payments. These three different proposals share something in common:…

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