Year-End Legislative Package Includes Freeze on PAMA Cuts, Excludes the VALID Act

 Congress released the text of a sweeping year-end legislative package. The Consolidated Appropriations Act for Fiscal Year 2023 funds the federal government for the remainder of the fiscal year and enacts or extends several health provisions.

The bill includes a one-year freeze to laboratory reimbursement cuts and data reporting associated with the Protecting Access to Medicare Act (PAMA). Under the new legislation, cuts and reporting will go into effect in January 2024. While there was bipartisan support in Congress for enacting the full Saving Access to Laboratory Services Act (SALSA), it was ultimately not included in the year-end package.

Source: https://www.appropriations.senate.gov/imo/media/doc/JRQ121922.PDF