Advocacy - Comment Letter
Dear Representative Hudson,
The Association for Diagnostics & Laboratory Medicine (ADLM) endorses H.R.5269, the Reforming and Enhancing Sustainable Updates to Laboratory Testing Services Act (RESULTS) Act of 2025, which would create a new, more equitable Medicare clinical laboratory fee schedule (CLFS). The current process, set forth in the Protecting Access to Medicare Act (PAMA), is flawed, unwieldy, and imposes deeper payment cuts on clinical laboratories than Congress initially anticipated.
In 2014, Congress passed PAMA which directed the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) to rebase the CLFS to reflect private sector payment rates. Unfortunately, nearly all the data used to set the new fees comes from large commercial laboratories, which can perform testing more cheaply due to their economies of scale. The result is significant reductions in payment rates that adversely affect all providers, particularly those in rural and underserved areas.
If enacted, RESULTS would correct several deficiencies in the earlier statute, such as ensuring that more representative payment data is utilized for setting fees. In addition, the measure would provide greater price stability through a more accurate, predictable rate setting process and by reducing the administrative burden on laboratories. ADLM believes these changes will result in a more streamlined, less burdensome payment process.
We further recognize the urgency in enacting this legislation. Without congressional action, more than 800 tests may be subjected to up to 15 percent cuts on January 1, 2026. These payment reductions will further exacerbate the financial burdens on laboratories, limiting patient access to quality, timely testing services. RESULTS will forestall these cuts, maintaining the current payment structure through 2028 as the new CLFS is implemented. ADLM strongly supports this approach.
ADLM is a global scientific and medical professional organization dedicated to clinical laboratory science and its application to healthcare. ADLM brings together clinical laboratory professionals, physicians, research scientists, and business leaders from around the world focused on clinical chemistry, molecular diagnostics, mass spectrometry, translational medicine, lab management, and other areas of clinical laboratory science to advance healthcare collaboration, knowledge, expertise, and innovation.
We look forward to working with you enacting this vital legislation. If you have any questions, please email Vince Stine, PhD, ADLM’s Senior Director of Government and Global Affairs, at [email protected], or Evan Fortman, MPA, ADLM’s Manager of Government Affairs at [email protected].
Sincerely,
Paul J. Jannetto, Ph.D., DABCC, FAACC
President, ADLM