On March 22, the U.S. Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) announced that its COVID-19 Uninsured Program had stopped accepting claims for related laboratory testing due to lack of sufficient funds. This development potentially affects 8.6% of the nation’s population which doesn’t have medical insurance, according to the U.S. Census Bureau. Clinical labs may face delayed payments from HRSA for COVID-19 tests performed on uninsured patients.
MORE ON: Testing for the Uninsured
The HRSA money dried up because it was cut from a bill before Congress that is funding other parts of the government and U.S. aid to Ukraine. It’s possible funding for COVID- 19 testing for uninsured patients could be restored. The uninsured program has provided more than $20 billion in reimbursements to medical laboratories, hospitals, physician offices, pharmacies, and clinics since spring 2020, the Washington Post reported. “Clinical labs will continue to do COVID-19 testing and will continue to bill for these tests, and there may be some retroactive payment for those tests done for uninsured patients,” said Mick Raich, President of Revenue Cycle Management Consulting at Lighthouse Lab Services.
PATHOLOGY BLISS: CHOCOLATE, ROSES, TISSUE SAMPLES?
Wedded bliss is the real deal for pathologists, as a large majority of pathologists recently surveyed reported being in a happy marriage. According to results from the Medscape survey, “Physician Lifestyle and Happiness Report 2022,” 81% of pathologists described their matrimony as “very good” or “good.” While that percentage sounds like love is in the air, it was actually on the lower third based on rankings for all physician specialties included in the survey. The physician specialties that had the highest number of happy marriages were otolaryngologists and immunologists, both at 91%. Medscape conducts this survey annually.
TRANSITIONS
• San Diego-based XIFIN named Harley Ross the company’s first Chief Commercial Officer on March 10. Prior to joining XIFIN, he served at StoveGuard and Quadax.
• Michaela Hart is the new Vice President of Regulatory, Quality, and Lab Operations for Delfi Diagnostics of Baltimore, Maryland. Previous positions were with Roche Sequencing USA, Veracyte, and Vaxart.
That’s all the insider intelligence for this report. Look for the next briefing on Monday, April 25, 2022.
