The Saving Access to Laboratory Services Act (SALSA) was reintroduced in the House and Senate on Tuesday. The legislation was originally introduced in June 2022 and is intended to protect laboratories from the reimbursement cuts imposed by the Protecting Access to Medicare Act of 2014.
SALSA would require Medicare payment rates for clinical diagnostic laboratory services to be determined by a statistically representative sample of the laboratory market. Additionally, to reduce administrative burdens on laboratories, data collection would be required every four years rather than every three.
The companion bills were introduced by bipartisan coalitions in both chambers, including Senators Sherrod Brown (D-OH) and Thom Tillis (R-NC), and Representatives Gus Bilirakis (R-FL), Richard Hudson (R-NC), Brian Fitzpatrick (R-PA), Bill Pascrell (D-NJ), and Scott Peters (D-CA). The American Clinical Laboratory Association commended the action and announced the relaunch of its “Stop Lab Cuts” advocacy campaign for PAMA reform.
We will provide updates on legislative action and advocacy as they become available.
Sources:
https://www.congress.gov/bill/117th-congress/senate-bill/4449/text
https://www.nila-usa.org/NewsBot.asp?MODE=VIEW&ID=844
