Consolidated Appropriations Act Signed Into Law, Enacts One-Year Delay of CLFS Cuts

President Donald Trump signed the Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2026 (H.R.7148) into law on Feb. 3, delaying Medicare Clinical Laboratory Fee Schedule (CLFS) cuts by one year and updating the data reporting process beginning in May 2026.

Expected CLFS cuts of up to 15 percent on about 800 tests – a result of the CLFS restructuring after passage of the Protecting Access to Medicare Act of 2014 (PAMA) – will now be delayed through Dec. 31, 2026. The data collection period of the private payer data that the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) uses to set CLFS rates for 2027 will shift from Jan. 1 to June 30, 2019, to Jan. 1 to June 30, 2025. The data reporting period will be shifted to May 1 to July 31, 2026, after which CMS will calculate CLFS rates effective Jan. 1, 2027.

Coverage for certain multicancer early detection screening tests has also been extended by a coverage and payment pathway created to allow Medicare patients to access these tests once approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, beginning Jan. 1, 2029 (Sect. 6221 of the Consolidated Appropriations Act).

American Clinical Laboratory Association President Susan Van Meter said she appreciates that lawmakers recognize the ongoing problems caused by PAMA but noted in a statement: “While the delay in cuts and updated data represents important improvement, significant structural problems with PAMA remain and temporary delays are not a solution. A fair, accurate, and stable payment system is needed to sustain the workforce, innovation, and capacity required to deliver clinical laboratory services.”

Van Meter endorsed the Reforming and Enhancing Sustainable Updates to Laboratory Testing Services (RESULTS) Act (S.2761/H.R. 5269) as “the long-term solution” to these existing structural problems. The RESULTS Act would update and streamline commercial payer rate data collection using information from an independent third-party database to calculate Medicare CLFS rates.

Sources:

https://www.congress.gov/bill/119th-congress/house-bill/7148/text

https://www.acla.com/acla-welcomes-pama-relief-in-funding-package-urges-congress-to-advance-results-act-in-2026/