Laboratory Question for the Week of October 14, 2019

Question:

What were the three recommendations the GAO gave in its 2018 report to CMS on Medicare laboratory overpayments?

Answer:

In its report, the Government Accountability Office (GAO) advocated three primary recommendations:

• “Collect complete private-payer data from all laboratories required to report or address the estimated effects of incomplete data
• Phase in payment rate reductions that start from the actual payment rates rather than the maximum payment rates Medicare paid prior to 2018
• Use bundled rates for panel tests.”

This question was answered in an edition of our Laboratory Compliance Manager. For more hot topics relating to laboratory services, please visit our store or call us at 1.800.252.1578, ext. 2.