Medicare Laboratory Tests: Implementation of New Rates May Lead to Billions in Excess Payments
Released: 2018-11-30T00:00:00

Letter

Background

Medicare Payment for Individual and Panel Tests before PAMA’s Implementation in 2018

Medicare pays for laboratory tests that are performed individually or in a group. For individual tests, laboratories submit claims to Medicare for each test they perform that is on the CLFS; tests are identified using a billing code. Prior to the implementation of PAMA in 2018, the payment rates on the CLFS were based on rates charged for laboratory tests in 1984 through 1985 adjusted for inflation. Additionally, 57 geographic jurisdictions had their own fee schedules for laboratory tests. CMS used the 57 separate fee schedules to calculate a national limitation amount, which served as the maximum payment for individual laboratory tests. Thus, the payment rate for an individual test was the lesser of the amount claimed by the laboratory, the local fee for a geographic area, or the national limitation amount for a particular test.

Medicare pays bundled payment rates for certain laboratory tests that are performed as a group, called panel tests. Panel tests can be divided into two categories—those without billing codes and those with billing codes. Panel tests without billing codes are composed of at least 2 of 23 distinct component tests. Additionally, there are 7 specific combinations of these 23 component tests that are commonly used and have their own billing code. Prior to 2018, Medicare paid for both types of panel tests (those without or with a billing code) using a bundled rate based on the number of tests performed, with modest payment increases for each additional test conducted. For example, in 2017, Medicare paid $7.15 for panel tests with two component tests and $9.12 for panel tests with 3 component tests, with a maximum bundled payment rate of $16.64 for all 23 component tests. Prior to 2018, the Medicare Administrative Contractors would count the number of tests performed before determining the appropriate bundled payment rate. For those panel tests with a billing code, the payment rate was the same if laboratories used the associated billing code for the panel test or listed each of the component tests separately.

Medicare Payment for Individual and Panel Tests after PAMA’s Implementation in 2018

After PAMA’s implementation in 2018, the 57 separate fee schedules for individual laboratory tests were replaced with a single national fee schedule. The payment rates for this single national fee schedule were based on private-payer rates for laboratory tests paid from January 1, 2016 through June 30, 2016. Specifically, the payment rate for an individual test was generally based on the median private-payer rates for a given test, weighted by test volume.

Payment for panel tests also changed in 2018. For panel tests without billing codes, Medicare Administrative Contractors no longer counted the number of component tests performed to determine the bundled payment rate; instead, Medicare paid the separate rate for each component test in the panel. For panel tests with a billing code, the payment rate depended on how the laboratory submitted the claim. If a laboratory used the billing code associated with the panel test, Medicare paid the bundled payment rate for that billing code. If a laboratory submitted a claim for the panel test, but listed each of the component tests separately instead of using the panel test’s billing code, Medicare paid the individual payment rate for each component test. Table 1 below summarizes the changes to payment rates before and after 2018.

Types of Clinical Laboratories

Multiple types of laboratories receive payment under Medicare. The three laboratory types that received the most revenue from the CLFS in 2016 were independent laboratories, hospital-outreach laboratories, and physician-office laboratories. (See table 2.)

Estimates of the size of the total U.S. laboratory market vary. For example, the Healthcare Fraud Prevention Partnership estimated that the laboratory industry received $87 billion in revenue in 2017, while another market report estimated the laboratory industry received $75 billion in revenue in 2016. Similar to Medicare, the three laboratory types that generally receive the most revenue overall are independent laboratories, hospital-outreach laboratories, and physician-office laboratories, when laboratory tests performed in hospital inpatient and outpatient settings were excluded.

Estimates of revenue received by these laboratories also vary. For example, in recent years, estimates of the share of laboratory industry revenue generated by independent laboratories ranged from 37 percent to 54 percent. Additionally, estimates of revenue generated by hospital- outreach laboratories recently ranged from 21 to 35 percent, and physician-office laboratories ranged from 4 to 11 percent of total laboratory industry revenue.

Private-Payer Rates for Laboratory Tests Generally Vary by Laboratory Type and Other Characteristics

Private-payer rates for laboratory tests conducted by the three largest laboratory types generally vary by type and other characteristics, according to market reports and the laboratory industry officials we interviewed.

Independent laboratories. These laboratories generally receive lower private-payer rates than other types of laboratories, according to industry officials we interviewed. Market reports we reviewed noted that about half of the independent laboratory market is dominated by two national laboratories and that these national laboratories provide more competitive pricing by performing a large volume of tests at one time. Medicare accounted for a smaller proportion of the revenue earned by these two national laboratories (12 percent), compared to other laboratories, according to another market report we reviewed. In contrast, a different market report noted that smaller, independent laboratories tend to earn more of their revenue from Medicare (34 percent).

Hospital-outreach laboratories. These hospital-affiliated laboratories typically receive relatively higher private-payer rates, according to industry officials we interviewed. Although hospital- outreach laboratories perform tests similar to other laboratories, they can obtain above-average payment rates by leveraging the market power of their affiliated hospital when negotiating rates with private payers, according to industry officials and market reports. Hospital-outreach laboratories generally receive about 25 to 30 percent of their revenue from the Medicare CLFS.

Physician-office laboratories. Physician-office laboratories typically receive higher private-payer rates than independent laboratories, according to a recent analysis by a laboratory industry association. This industry association also noted that the cost structure to operate in a setting such as a physician-office laboratory is different than in large independent laboratories, as the physician-office laboratory is unable to conduct a large number of tests at one time. Officials from another industry association we interviewed said that payment rates for these laboratories are generally dependent on the size of the physician practice group. These same officials told us that larger physician groups (e.g., 10 or more physicians) typically negotiate higher rates from private payers than smaller physician groups. Most physician-office laboratories received less than $25,000 in revenue per year from Medicare, according to CMS.

Additionally, in 2013, the Department of Health and Human Services Office of Inspector General found that Medicare’s payment rates on the CLFS were higher than rates paid by some private health insurance plans. Specifically, it found that Medicare rates for laboratory tests were 18 percent to 30 percent higher than rates paid by certain insurers under health benefits plans for federal employees.

CMS Analyzed Private-Payer Data to Develop New Payment Rates

Definition of Applicable Laboratories Required to Report Private-Payer Data to CMS CMS defined applicable laboratories as those meeting four criteria: (1) they met the definition of laboratory under regulations implementing the Clinical Laboratory Improvement Amendments of 1988; (2) they billed Medicare Part B under their own Medicare billing number, also called the national provider identifier; (3) more than 50 percent of their total Medicare revenues came from the Clinical Laboratory Fee Schedule (CLFS) and/or the Physician Fee Schedule; and (4) they received at least $12,500 in Medicare revenue from the CLFS from January 1, 2016, through June 30, 2016.

CMS analyzed private-payer data it collected from about 2,000 laboratories to develop new payment rates for individual laboratory tests on the CLFS. PAMA defined laboratories required to report private-payer data, called applicable laboratories, as laboratories that meet certain criteria. (See sidebar.) Applicable laboratories with their own specific billing number, the NPI, submitted these data to CMS. If one organization operated multiple applicable laboratories, each with its own NPI, then the organization could report data to CMS for multiple applicable laboratories. CMS collected data from applicable laboratories on payments they received from private payers during the first half of 2016. Specifically, CMS collected data on (1) the unique billing code associated with a laboratory test; (2) the private-payer rate for each laboratory test for which final payment was made during the data collection period (January 1, 2016, through June 30, 2016); and (3) the volume of tests performed for each unique billing code at that private- payer rate. For the data CMS collected between January 1, 2017, and May 30, 2017, CMS relied on the entities reporting to CMS to attest to the completeness and accuracy of the data they submitted.

CMS relied on each laboratory to identify whether or not it was an applicable laboratory and took steps to assist laboratories in meeting reporting requirements. According to CMS officials, they relied on laboratories to self-identify as applicable laboratories because they were unable to accurately identify the number of laboratories required to report. To assist laboratories, CMS issued multiple guidance documents to the industry outlining the criteria for being an applicable laboratory and describing the type of data CMS intended to collect. CMS also conducted educational calls when the proposed and final rules were issued and prior to the data collection period. CMS officials told us they conducted additional outreach activities, including holding conference calls with national laboratory associations and attending professional conferences. Officials said they used these outreach activities in addition to the guidance issued to inform laboratories of the reporting requirements for applicable laboratories, for example.

In addition, CMS established a revenue threshold of $12,500 in an effort to reduce the reporting burden for entities that receive a relatively small amount of revenues under the CLFS. In its final rule, CMS noted that it expected that many of the laboratories that would be below this revenue threshold and, thus exempt from reporting data to CMS, would be physician-office laboratories. CMS also chose to use the NPI in its definition of applicable laboratory in the final rule to allow hospital- outreach laboratories that use their own NPI to submit data to the agency. In its proposed rule, CMS suggested using an alternative identification number to the NPI. However, according to the final rule, CMS chose to use the NPI in its definition of applicable laboratory to allow those hospital-outreach laboratories billing using their own NPI to submit private-payer data to the agency.

According to CMS, at the end of the 5-month submission period, the agency had received data from approximately 2,000 applicable laboratories, representing a volume of almost 248 million laboratory tests; these data accounted for about $31 billion in revenue from private payers. CMS reported that the data it collected included private-payer rates for 96 percent of the 1,347 eligible billing codes on the CLFS. CMS used these data to calculate a median, private-payer rate, weighted by volume and phased in this change by limiting payment-rate reductions to 10 percent per year. Beginning in 2018, these new payment rates served as the single, national payment rate for individual laboratory tests. These payment rates were also used for the individual, component tests that make up panel tests and were used when laboratories billed Medicare for panel tests by listing the component tests separately.

In general, the median payments rates, weighted for volume, that CMS calculated were lower than Medicare’s previous payment rates for most laboratory tests. According to our analysis, these median payment rates were lower than the corresponding 2017 CLFS national limitation amounts (the maximum that CMS would pay for laboratory tests) for approximately 88 percent of tests. Figure 1 below describes the percentage difference between these median payment rates and Medicare’s 2017 national limitation amounts for laboratory tests.

The final payment rates that CMS calculated, which included the 10- percent, phased in, payment-rate reductions, will remain in effect until December 31, 2020; PAMA requires CMS to calculate new payment rates for the CLFS every 3 years. Reporting entities will next be required to submit data on private-payer rates to CMS in early 2020, for final payments made from January 1, 2019 through June 30, 2019. PAMA capped any reductions for the second 3-year cycle after implementation to a maximum of 15 percent per year.

PAMA’s Provisions and CMS’s Actions May Have Mitigated Some Challenges Related to Incomplete and Inaccurate Private-Payer Data, but Future Challenges Remain Incomplete Data Likely Had a Limited Effect from 2018 through 2020 but Could Affect Future Rates

CMS did not collect private-payer data from all laboratories required to report this information and did not estimate how much data was not reported by these laboratories, according to agency officials. CMS relied on laboratories to determine whether they met data reporting requirements and submit data accordingly. CMS emphasized the importance of receiving data from all laboratories required to report by stating that it is critical that CMS collect complete data on private-payer rates in order to set accurate Medicare rates. However, agency officials told us that CMS did not receive data from all laboratories required to report. They also told us that CMS did not have the information available to estimate how much data was missing because not all laboratories reported or the extent to which the data collected were representative of all of the data that laboratories were required to report.

Prior to collecting private-payer data, CMS estimated that laboratories subject to reporting requirements would receive more than 90 percent of CLFS expenditures to physician-office laboratories and independent laboratories. Specifically, based on its analysis of 2013 Medicare expenditures, CMS estimated that reporting requirements would apply to the laboratories that received 92 percent of CLFS payments to physician- office laboratories and 99 percent of CLFS payments to independent laboratories.

After laboratories reported private-payer data, we analyzed the share of CLFS expenditures received by the laboratories that reported. Our analysis found that CMS collected data from laboratories that received the majority of CLFS payments to physician-office, independent, and other non-hospital laboratories in 2016. However, the laboratories that reported private-payer data received less than 70 percent of CLFS expenditures to physician-office, independent, and other non-hospital laboratories. Specifically, using Medicare claims data, we calculated that CMS collected data from laboratories that received 68 percent of 2016 CLFS payments to physician-office, independent, and other non-hospital laboratories.

Although it did not collect complete data, CMS concluded that it collected sufficient private-payer data to set Medicare payment rates and that collecting more data from additional laboratories that were required to report would not significantly affect Medicare expenditures. This conclusion was based, in part, on a sensitivity analyses that CMS conducted of the effects that collecting certain types and amounts of additional data would have on weighted median private-payer rates and the effects those rates could have on Medicare payment rates and, thus, expenditures. Results from these analyses showed that Medicare expenditures based on the CLFS would have changed by 2 percent or less after collecting more data from the various types of laboratories. For example, CMS estimated that doubling the amount of private-payer data from physician-office laboratories would increase expenditures by 2 percent and collecting ten times as much data from hospital outreach laboratories would increase expenditures by 1 percent. (See fig. 2.)

PAMA’s 10-percent limit on annual payment-rate reductions likely reduced the effect that incomplete private-payer data could have on the CLFS because this limit applied to most Medicare payment rates for laboratory tests. As demonstrated in figure 1, while 59 percent of tests had median private-payer rates that were at least 30 percent less than their respective 2017 national limitation amounts, CMS published Medicare rates for these tests for 2018 through 2020 that were reduced by only 10 percent per year as a result of this limit. For example, a hypothetical laboratory test with a 2017 CLFS national limitation amount of $10.00 and a median private-payer rate of $7.00 would result in CLFS rates of $9.00 in 2018, $8.10 in 2019, and $7.29 in 2020. Changes to median private-payer rates due to collecting more complete data or eliminating inaccurate data would have no effect on Medicare payment rates from 2018 through 2020 for this hypothetical test if they resulted in new median rates of $7.29 or less.

Our analysis of the potential effects that collecting data from additional laboratories could have had on Medicare payment rates and expenditures found that the effect of CMS not collecting complete data would likely have been greater absent PAMA’s limits on annual reductions to Medicare payment rates. As a result, CMS may face challenges setting accurate Medicare rates if it does not collect complete data from all laboratories required to report in the future when PAMA allows for greater annual payment-rate reductions. To conduct this analysis, we used the private-payer data CMS collected to analyze the range of effects that collecting additional data could have on Medicare expenditures, assuming 2016 utilization rates remain constant. The extent of these effects depends on the amount of additional data CMS would need to collect to obtain complete data and whether the payment rates in these additional data would have been greater or less than the medians of the rates reported. For example, we estimated that if CMS needed to collect 20 percent more data for its collection to be complete, doing so could increase Medicare CLFS expenditures from 2018 through 2020 by as much as 3 percent or reduce them by as much as 3 percent depending on the payment rates in these additional data. However, if annual limits to Medicare payment-rate reductions were not applied, collecting these additional data could increase CLFS expenditures by as much as 9 percent or reduce them by as much as 9 percent. (See fig. 3 and app. II for additional information about these estimates.)

As demonstrated in figure 2, CMS did analyze how collecting certain types and amounts of data from additional laboratories would affect Medicare expenditures. However, without valid estimates of how much more data these additional laboratories were required to report and how much these data would change median payment rates, it remains unknown whether CMS’s analyses estimate the actual risk of setting Medicare payment rates that do not reflect private-payer rates from all applicable laboratories, as mandated by PAMA. CMS could have compared the data it collected with independent information on the payment rates laboratories were required to report, for example. The independent information could be estimated by auditing a random sample of laboratories or could be estimated using data from third-party vendors, if these vendors could supply relevant and reliable information.

CMS Mitigated Challenges of Setting Accurate Medicare Payment Rates by Identifying and Excluding Inaccurate Private-Payer Data that Could Have Led to Paying More than Necessary

We found that CMS mitigated challenges to setting accurate Medicare payment rates by identifying, analyzing, and responding to potentially inaccurate private-payer data. CMS addressed potentially inaccurate private-payer data and other data that CMS determined did not meet reporting requirements.

CMS removed or replaced data from four reporting entities that appeared to have or confirmed having reported revenue—which is the payment rate multiplied by the volume of tests paid at that rate—instead of payment rates. We estimated that if CMS had included these data that CLFS expenditures from 2018 through 2020 would have increased by 7 percent.

CMS removed data it determined were reported in error including duplicate submissions and submissions with payment rates of $0.00. We estimated that removing these data will change CLFS expenditures from 2018 through 2020 by less than one percent.

CMS identified four other types of potentially inaccurate data that it determined would not significantly impact Medicare payment rates or expenditures and did not exclude them from calculations of median private-payer rates. CMS considered the following potentially inaccurate data to have met its reporting requirements: 1. data from 57 entities that reported particularly high rates in at least 60 percent of their data, 2. data from 12 entities that reported particularly low rates in at least 50 percent of their data, 3. data with payment rates that were 10 times greater than the 2017 national limitation amounts or 10 times less than these amounts, and 4. data from laboratories that may not have met the $12,500 low- expenditure threshold or that reported data from a hospital NPI instead of a laboratory NPI.

We found that each of these four types of potentially inaccurate data would have changed estimated Medicare CLFS expenditures from 2018 through 2020 by 1 percent or less if CMS had instead excluded the data. To conduct this analysis, we recalculated Medicare rates after excluding each type of data and estimated Medicare expenditures assuming 2016 rates of utilization.

CMS’s Implementation of New Payment Rates Could Lead to Medicare Paying Billions More than Necessary for Some Tests

CMS’s Approach to Phase In Reductions to Payment Rates Temporarily Increased Some Rates and Contributed to Estimated Increases in Medicare Expenditures for Certain Laboratory Tests

Although weighted median private-payer rates were lower than Medicare’s 2017 national limitation amounts for 88 percent of tests, we estimated the total Medicare expenditures based on the 2018 CLFS would likely increase by 3 percent ($225 million overall) compared to 2016 expenditures, assuming test utilization remained at 2016 levels. This increase in estimated expenditures is due, in part, to CMS’s use of above-average payment rates as a baseline to calculate payment rates for those laboratory tests affected by PAMA’s annual payment-rate reduction limit of 10 percent. (See fig. 4.)

When applying the 10-percent payment-rate reduction limit, CMS used as its starting point the 2017 national limitation amounts in order to set a single, national payment rate for each laboratory test. Thus, the Medicare payment rate for a test in 2018 could not be less than 90 percent of the test’s 2017 national limitation amount. However, prior to 2018, some payment rates were commonly lower than the national limitation amounts because they were based on the lesser of (1) the amount billed on claims, (2) the local fee for a geographic area, or (3) a national limitation amount, and because panel tests had different bundled payment rates. As a result, by reducing payment rates from national limitation amounts, CMS did not always reduce rates from what Medicare actually paid.

Panel tests, in particular, frequently received bundled payment rates that differed substantially from national limitation amounts associated with their billing codes prior to 2018. We compared national limitation amounts, which represent maximum Medicare payment rates for tests, with the average amounts Medicare allowed for payment in 2016, which reflect actual Medicare payment rates. For example, figure 5 below shows that the 2017 national limitation amount for comprehensive metabolic panel tests ($14.49) was substantially higher than both the average amount Medicare allowed for payment in 2016 ($11.45) and the median payment rate laboratories reported receiving from private payers ($9.08). As a result, using the 2017 national limitation amount as a basis for payment reductions caused Medicare’s payment rate to increase from an average allowed amount of $11.45 in 2016, to a payment rate of $13.04 in 2018, instead of decreasing towards a lower median private- payer rate of $9.08. By increasing average payment rates rather than phasing in reductions to rates, CMS’s implementation may lead to paying more than necessary for some tests.

Federal standards for internal control for information and communications require agency management to use quality information to achieve its objectives. Basing reductions on national limitation amounts rather than more relevant information on how much Medicare actually paid—such as the average allowable amounts in 2016, for example—could result in Medicare paying more than necessary by $733 million from 2018 through 2020, according to our estimates.

CMS’s Changes to Payment Rates for Panel Tests Could Lead Medicare to Pay Billions of Dollars More than Is Necessary

In implementing PAMA, CMS eliminated bundled rates for panel tests that lack billing codes and started paying separately for each component test instead. CMS also implemented the 2018 CLFS in a manner that could lead to unbundling payment rates for panel tests with billing codes. If payment rates for all panel tests were unbundled, we estimated that Medicare expenditures could increase by $218 million for panel tests that lack billing codes and by as much as $10.1 billion for panel tests with billing codes from 2018 through 2020. CMS also estimated that there could be significant risks of paying more than necessary associated with unbundling and has taken initial steps to monitor these risks and explore possible responses, but had not yet responded to these risks as of July 2018.

CMS Unbundled Payment Rates for Panel Tests without Billing Codes Beginning in 2018, CMS no longer uses bundled payment rates for panel tests without billing codes and instead pays laboratories individual payments for each component test that comprises these panel tests. However, CMS staff and members of its advisory panel discussed concerns with this approach. At an advisory panel meeting in 2016, CMS staff relayed concerns from stakeholders that CMS would not be able to collect valid data on private-payer rates for these panel tests. According to agency staff, stakeholders had informed CMS that private payers commonly use bundled payment rates for these panel tests, but laboratories would only be able to report unbundled payment rates for individual component tests.

We estimated that unbundling these payment rates would increase Medicare expenditures from 2018 through 2020 by $218 million in comparison to the estimated Medicare expenditures over the same time period based on Medicare’s 2016 utilization and allowable amounts. For example, under the 2016 CLFS, Medicare paid approximately 435,000 claims for panel tests that included the laboratory tests assay of creatinine (HCPCS code 82565) and assay of urea nitrogen (HCPCS code 84520) at an average bundled payment rate of $6.82. In contrast, under the 2018 CLFS, these two component tests are reimbursed individually at $6.33 and $4.88, respectively, or $11.21 combined—a 63 percent increase.

Despite concerns about the validity of available private-payer data on component tests for panel tests without billing codes, CMS used these data to set payment rates for component tests. CMS officials told us that they stopped using bundled payment rates for these panel tests because it is not clear that CMS has the authority to combine the individual component tests into groups for bundled payment as it did before 2018 due to PAMA’s reference to payments for each test. However, in July 2018, CMS officials told us the agency was reviewing its authority regarding this issue. CMS officials told us they are exploring alternative approaches that could limit increases to Medicare expenditures but had not yet determined what additional legal authority would be needed, if any, and did not know when CMS would make this determination. Agency officials told us that CMS has taken initial steps to monitor unbundling and explore possible responses, including the following:

Monitoring unbundling: CMS has begun monitoring changes in panel test utilization, payment rates, and expenditures associated with its implementation of PAMA, according to officials. For example, CMS officials told us that preliminary data indicated that Medicare payments for individual component tests of panel tests has increased substantially in 2018, but, as of July 2018, it was too early to draw conclusions from these data because laboratories have up to one year to submit claims for tests.

Collecting input on alternatives: In 2016, a subcommittee of an advisory panel that CMS established reviewed Medicare’s use of bundled payment rates for panel tests and published different approaches for CMS to consider implementing in combination with other changes to implement PAMA.

CMS’s Implementation of PAMA May Have Allowed Unbundling of Payment Rates for Panel Tests with Billing Codes Beginning in 2018, laboratories that submit claims for any of the seven panel tests with billing codes by using the billing codes for the individual component tests now receive the payment rate for each component test, rather than the bundled rate. Prior to 2018, laboratories could submit claims for these panel tests either by using the specific codes for panel tests or by billing separately for each of the component tests, and, regardless of how laboratories submitted claims, Medicare Administrative Contractors would pay bundled payment rates based on how many of the 23 component tests were conducted. However, CMS instructed Medicare Administrative Contractors to stop bundling payment rates for tests that are billed individually on claims rather than billed on claims using codes for panel tests, beginning in 2018. CMS did so because it was not clear that CMS had the authority to combine the individual component tests into groups for bundled payment as it did before 2018 due to PAMA’s reference to payments for individual tests, according to agency officials. This change could potentially have a large effect on Medicare spending. For example, if a laboratory submitted a claim individually for the 14 component tests that comprise a comprehensive metabolic panel it would receive a payment of $81.91, a 528 percent increase from the 2018 Medicare bundled payment rate of $13.04 for this panel test. (See fig. 6.)

Improving how reductions to payment rates for panel tests are phased in could mitigate, but not completely counteract, the effect of unbundling these payment rates. For example, for the comprehensive metabolic panel test described in figure 6, basing maximum reductions on 2016 average allowable amounts would result in a 2018 Medicare bundled payment rate of $10.31 instead of $13.04 and individual payment rates for the 14 component tests that total $56.06—a 32 percent decrease from $81.91 that Medicare would otherwise pay.

If the payment rate for each panel test with a billing code were unbundled, we estimated that Medicare expenditures for these tests from 2018 through 2020 could reach $13.5 billion, a $10.1 billion increase from the $3.3 billion we estimated Medicare would spend using the bundled payment rates in the CLFS. Similarly, prior to implementing PAMA, CMS estimated that Medicare expenditures to physician-office, independent, and other non-hospital laboratories could potentially increase as much as $2.5 billion in 2018, alone if it paid for the same number of panel tests with billing codes as it did in 2016 but paid for each component test individually. These estimates represent an upper limit on the increased expenditures that could occur if every laboratory stopped using panel test billing codes and instead used the billing codes for individual component tests. We do not know the extent to which laboratories will stop filing claims using panel test billing codes.

CMS officials also told us that they were aware of the risks associated with paying for the individual component tests instead of the bundled payment rate for a panel test with a billing code. However, CMS guidance, which was effective in 2018, continued to allow laboratories to use the billing codes for individual component tests rather than the billing code for the panel. CMS officials explained that this was due to PAMA’s reference to payments for individual tests, similar to CMS’s decision to stop paying bundled rates for panel tests without billing codes. At the time we did our work, CMS had not implemented a response to these risks but had taken some initial steps to monitor unbundling and consider alternative approaches to Medicare payment rates for these tests. HHS provided additional information on planned activities to address these risks in its written comments on a draft of this report. (See app. III.)

Conclusions

CMS collected data on private-payer rates from laboratories that were required to report these data, but not all laboratories complied with the reporting requirement, and the extent of noncompliance remains unclear. PAMA’s provision directing CMS to phase in payment-rate reductions to Medicare payment rates likely moderates the potential adverse effects of incomplete private-payer data. However, in the future, failing to collect complete data could substantially affect Medicare payment rates because private-payer rates alone will determine Medicare payment rates. In addition, we estimated that Medicare expenditures on laboratory tests will be $733 million higher from 2018 through 2020, because CMS started phasing in payment-rate reductions from national limitation amounts instead of more relevant data on actual payment rates, such as average allowable amounts. Finally, changes to payment rates, billing practices, and testing practices could increase Medicare expenditures by as much as $10.3 billion from 2018 through 2020, if CMS does not address the risks associated with unbundling payment rates for panel tests. Agency officials indicated that it was unclear if PAMA limited CMS’s ability to combine individual component tests into groups for bundled payment, and, as of July 2018, CMS was reviewing this matter but did not know when it would make a determination.

Recommendations for Executive Action

We are making the following three recommendations to CMS:

The Administrator of CMS should take steps to collect all of the data from all laboratories that are required to report. If only partial data can be collected, CMS should estimate how incomplete data would affect Medicare payment rates and address any significant challenges to setting accurate Medicare rates. (Recommendation 1)

The Administrator of CMS should phase in payment-rate reductions that start from the actual payment rates Medicare paid prior to 2018 rather than the national limitation amounts. CMS should revise these rates as soon as practicable to prevent paying more than necessary. (Recommendation 2)

The Administrator of CMS should use bundled rates for panel tests, consistent with its practice prior to 2018, rather than paying for them individually; if necessary, the Administrator of CMS should seek legislative authority to do so. (Recommendation 3)

Agency Comments and Our Evaluation

We provided a draft of this report to HHS for review and comment. HHs provided written comments, which are reproduced in appendix III. HHS also provided technical comments, which we incorporated as appropriate.

HHS concurred with our first recommendation to take steps to collect all data from laboratories required to report and commented that it is evaluating ways to increase reporting. In particular, in a November 2018 final rule, HHS changed the definition of an applicable laboratory, which it expects will increase the number of laboratories required to report data on private-payer rates to the agency.

HHS neither agreed nor disagreed with our second recommendation to phase in payment-rate reductions that start from the actual payment rates Medicare paid prior to 2018. HHS noted that any changes to the phasing in of payment-rate reductions would need to be implemented through rulemaking. We estimated that by using the national limitation amounts as a starting point for these reductions, Medicare expenditures would increase by $733 million from 2018 through 2020. For this reason, we continue to believe CMS should revise these rates as soon as practicable and through whatever mechanism CMS determines appropriate.

HHS neither agreed nor disagreed with our third recommendation to use bundled rates for panel tests. However, HHS commented that it is taking steps to address this issue. More specifically, for panel tests with billing codes, HHS is working to implement an automated process to identify claims for panel tests that should receive bundled payments, similar to the process used to bundle payment rates for these panel tests prior to PAMA’s implementation and anticipates implementing this change by the summer of 2019. In addition, HHS posted guidance on November 14, 2018, stating that the panel tests with billing codes, laboratories should submit claims using the corresponding code rather than the codes for the separate component tests beginning in 2019. To reduce the potential of paying more than necessary, we believe it is important that CMS implement its proposed automated process to allow for these payments as soon as possible.

In contrast, for panel tests without billing codes, HHS commented that it is continuing to review its authority and considering other approaches to payment for these panel tests, such as adding codes to the CLFS. We estimate that unbundling the payment for these panel tests could increase Medicare expenditures by $218 million from 2018 through 2020 compared to expenditures based on Medicare’s 2016 utilization, and the actual amount could be higher if utilization increases. For this reason, we believe CMS should implement bundled payment rates for these panel tests to avoid excess payments.

We are sending copies of this report to the appropriate congressional committees and the Administrator of CMS. In addition, the report is available at no charge on the GAO website at http://www.gao.gov. If you or your staff have any questions about this report, please contact me at (202) 512-7114 or cosgrovej@gao.gov. Contact points for our Offices of Congressional Relations and Public Affairs may be found on the last page of this report. GAO staff who made key contributions to this report are listed in appendix IV.

Appendix I: Table of Key Dates Related to Developing the New Payment Rates for the 2018 Clinical Laboratory Fee Schedule

Appendix I: Table of Key Dates Related to Developing the New Payment Rates for the 2018 Clinical Laboratory Fee Schedule Event Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) issued the CLFS proposed rule.

CMS issued responses to frequently asked questions regarding the CLFS proposed rule.

CMS issued the CLFS final rule.

CMS issued responses to frequently asked questions regarding the CLFS final rule.

CMS held the joint Annual Laboratory Public Meeting and Medicare Advisory Panel on Clinical Diagnostic Laboratory Tests meeting.

CMS issued laboratory billing codes subject to data collection and reporting.

CMS issued guidance to laboratories for collecting and reporting data.

CMS held a Medicare Advisory Panel on Clinical Diagnostic Laboratory Tests meeting.

CMS issued the CLFS data reporting template.

CMS collected data on (1) the billing code associated with a laboratory test; (2) the private-payer rate for each laboratory test for which final payment was made during the data collection period (i.e., January 1, 2016, through June 30, 2016); and (3) the volume of tests performed for each billing code at that private-payer rate.

CMS issued additional guidance for laboratories as the data collection period began.

CMS issued the CLFS fee-for-service data collection user’s manual.

CMS issued revised guidance to laboratories for collecting and reporting data.

CMS held a Medicare Advisory Panel on Clinical Diagnostic Laboratory Tests meeting.

CMS released the proposed CLFS rates.

CMS held a Medicare Advisory Panel on Clinical Diagnostic Laboratory Tests meeting.

Deadline for stakeholders to submit comments on the proposed CLFS rates to CMS.

CMS issued the final CLFS rates.

New CLFS rates became effective.

Appendix II: Estimated Effects on Medicare Expenditures from Collecting Additional Data

Table 4 below demonstrates the challenges the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) faces in setting accurate Medicare payment rates to the extent it does not collect complete data from laboratories on private-payer rates. Specifically, the table shows the potential effect that collecting additional data for each laboratory test could have on Medicare expenditures and how this effect could vary depending on (1) the amount of additional data collected, (2) payment rates in the additional data, and (3) limits to annual reductions in Medicare payment rates. These limits are in place from 2018 through 2023 to phase in changes to payment rates.

Appendix III: Comments from the Department of Health and Human Services

Appendix IV: GAO Contact and Staff Acknowledgments

GAO Contact

Staff Acknowledgments

In addition to the contact named above, Martin T. Gahart, Assistant Director; Gay Hee Lee, Analyst-in-Charge; Kaitlin Farquharson, Sandra George, Dan Lee, Elizabeth T. Morrison, Laurie Pachter, Vikki Porter, and Russell Voth made key contributions to this report.