The Laboratory Access for Beneficiaries (LAB) Act - H.R. 3584

On June 28, 2019, The Laboratory Access for Beneficiaries (LAB) Act, was introduced by Rep. Scott Peters (D-CA), Rep. Gus Bilirakis (R-FL), Rep. Bill Pascrell (D-NJ), Rep. Kurt Schrader (D-OR), Rep. Richard Hudson (R-NC), and Rep. George Holding (R-NC). The bill would delay the next round of PAMA data reporting by one year to ensure that all applicable laboratories that are required to report private payor data have the necessary time to do so. The bill also calls for the National Academy of Medicine (NAM) to provide recommendations to Congress on less burdensome data collection methods and representative reimbursement rate calculations that result in the reliable, sustainable, market-based system originally intended by Congress.

NILA has been working with ACLA and AdvaMed on a plan to delay the implementation of PAMA in an attempt to ensure that the next round of data collected accurately reflects the entire clinical laboratory industry. Now that this legislation has been introduced, we need to work quickly to ensure its passage and focus on the next steps to achieve the ultimate goal of revising PAMA to protect access to essential laboratory services around the country.

Together with ACLA and AdvaMed, NILA issued a press release on the legislation along with a fact sheet.

Congress has yet to post the bill. View the unpublished text of the LAB Act (H.R. 3584) here.

Read a section by section summary of the LAB Act (H.R. 3584) here.