ASCP
The updated regulations, which went into effect in January, reverse a previous CMS policy that had drawn broad opposition from the lab industry.
With the calendar winding down and the House without a speaker, the PAMA reform bill could stall again this year, though another temporary fix may be in the offing.
Lawmakers are still wrangling over whether to include these two key lab industry bills in an end-of-year spending package due to pass next week.
Even as layoffs hit labs due to declining demand for COVID-19 testing, a wave of departing workers and a depleted trainee pipeline make personnel hard to come by.
The agency is drawing criticism for a proposed CLIA update that would recognize nursing degrees as sufficient education for performing high-complexity testing.