Previous Advocacy Updates

President-elect Joe Biden named his COVID-19 advisory board, comprised of public health experts and scientists, that will develop actions to fight and mitigate the COVID-19 pandemic.

President Donald Trump’s Administration and the presidential transition team for former Vice President Joe Biden separately took actions aimed at stopping the spread of COVID-19 on November 9.

After discussions with the CAP over concerns of overburdening laboratories during the current pandemic, UnitedHealthcare announced it will delay implementation of its test registry program until April 2021. On October 30, UnitedHealthcare said it pushed back the deadline of its laboratory test registry to ensure compliance with new requirements.

The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) announced that the Provider Relief Fund will now include laboratories as eligible providers who can apply for the federal pay program. On October 1, the HHS announced it would allow up to $20 billion in new funding for providers on the frontlines of the coronavirus pandemic. The CAP had urged Congress and the HHS to give pathologists and laboratories greater support through relief funds to pathologists.

A bipartisan group of more than 229 House lawmakers urged Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) and Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) to stop Medicare cuts to pathologists and other providers in 2021. Support to stop these cuts, which amount a 9% decrease for pathologists next year, reached a critical threshold in the House of Representatives following months of advocacy by the CAP and a coalition group of physician and nonphysician specialists.

The CAP surveyed board-certified pathologists nationwide and 85% reported the COVID-19 pandemic has negatively affected pathologists. The CAP’s latest survey confirmed the pandemic’s ongoing adverse effects on pathologists as the United States has relied on COVID-19 testing throughout this national crisis.

The CMS had outlined the cuts—which the CAP has spoken out against for more than a year—in the proposed 2021 Medicare Physician Fee Schedule. In a follow-up comment letter to the Medicare agency, the CAP again urged the CMS to abandon its plans to move forward with the cuts next year.

Congress passed a bipartisan bill, with some notable changes to the Medicare Accelerated and Advance Payment program, that will fund the government until December 11. Due to the pandemic's economic effects on pathologists and laboratories, the CAP had urged Congress to make several changes to the Medicare program, including extending the repayment deadline for participants.

The CAP needs all pathologists to fight upcoming Medicare cuts by contacting your federal legislators. The CAP launched a summer campaign of virtual advocacy demanding that Congress mitigate the -9% Medicare cut to pathology services that will take effect on January 2021. The fight is not over. Our virtual campaign to advocate against these pending Medicare cuts will continue and we need your help.

The HHS responded to the CAP’s advocacy by giving laboratories additional relief and more flexibility to meet new COVID-19 data reporting requirements during the current pandemic.

The CAP asked CDC and the HHS to provide the scientific rationale for changes made to federal COVID-19 testing guidance in late August.

Given the CAP’s important role in the country’s response to the pandemic, HHS appointed President Patrick Godbey, MD, FCAP to its National Testing Implementation Forum.

The CAP will object to the UnitedHealthcare lab test registry as pathologists cope with the COVID-19 pandemic.

During a meeting with federal agency officials, leaders representing the CAP urged the HHS and CDC to rescind new data reporting requirements for laboratories until workable rules can be implemented.

The CAP urged Congress to take up COVID-19 emergency response legislation and enact the priorities important to pathologists and their patients. Also, the CMS releases the proposed 2021 Medicare Payment regulation.

With supply shortages for COVID-19 tests persistent throughout the pandemic, CAP leaders spoke with the White House Testing Task Force, the American Medical Association, and other laboratory industry officials regarding current supply inventories and different avenues to increase supplies.

The federal government extended its COVID-19 emergency declaration for an additional 90 days following advocacy from the CAP, American Society for Microbiology (ASM), and a strong coalition of pathologist and laboratory groups and several others.

The CAP highlighted the undercount of US pathologists in an article published by the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA) Network Open.

The CDC recently spoke with CAP President Dr. Patrick Godbey to discuss the additional guidance and supplies laboratories need to test for coronavirus.

The AMA, the CAP, and more than 100 medical societies, called on the HHS to mitigate Medicare cuts.