The House Energy and Commerce Subcommittee on Health will hold a legislative hearing on Thursday, Oct. 19, to examine proposals for fine-tuning Medicare payments.
Among the legislation to be discussed is the Saving Access to Laboratory Services Act (SALSA; H.R. 2377), which aims to improve the accuracy of market-based Medicare payments for clinical diagnostic laboratory services and reduce administrative burdens in the collection of data by requiring payment rates for certain widely available clinical diagnostic laboratory tests to be based on a statistical sampling of private sector rates.
The subcommittee and its panel of witnesses will also examine several discussion drafts of bills. Included topics are adjustments to the Medicare physician fee schedule, alternative measures of performance under the Merit-based Incentive Payment System (MIPS), exemptions for certain practitioners from MIPS payment adjustments based on participation in certain payment arrangements under Medicare Advantage, and the phase-in of clinical laboratory test payment changes under the Medicare program.
“We look forward to considering the legislation at this hearing to determine the best pathway forward toward a system that rewards health care providers that deliver high quality care to patients,” House Energy and Commerce Committee Chair Cathy McMorris Rodgers (R-Wash.) and Subcommittee on Health Chair Brett Guthrie (R-Ky.) said in a joint statement to announce the hearing.
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