Washington, D.C. – U.S. Senators Tim Johnson (D-SD) and Thad Cochran (R-MS) have introduced legislation that would keep lab testing services in rural communities across the country. The Physician Pathology Services Continuity Act (S.1967) would ensure that smaller hospitals are permanently exempted from costly regulations that could make it impossible for them to provide pathology and laboratory services for Medicare beneficiaries in communities nationwide.  

“Medicare recipients in rural America should not be forced to drive hours to the nearest big city hospital for a simple lab test. There’s already a temporary measure in place that makes it possible for smaller hospitals to afford to provide these tests, but it is due to expire later this month. This bipartisan legislation would make it permanent and provide Medicare patients with peace of mind,” said Johnson.

“Rural health care delivery presents unique challenges for both patients and providers.  Our legislation would give rural hospitals certainty that they would not face the regulatory burdens and costs that would arise if the current exemption lapses.  It would also keep patient access to surgical pathology services a priority.  This issue is an important one for Mississippi’s numerous rural hospitals and communities,” Cochran said. 

Many small hospitals often can’t afford an onsite laboratory to perform pathology tests like cancer biopsies, so they send samples to independent laboratories for testing.

Unless Congress acts before the end of the year, federal provisions will require smaller hospitals and laboratories to put in place costly new billing and administrative systems to continue to provide these services. This would stretch the already tight bottom lines of many small hospitals. In some cases, hospitals would not be able to afford these upgrades and would be forced to stop providing these lab tests, leaving many Medicare beneficiaries without access to care in their local community.

In recent years, Congress has passed a series of temporary measures to prevent small hospitals and laboratories from needing to make these costly upgrades. The Physician Pathology Services Continuity Act would make these short term fixes permanent and ensure that Medicare patients have access to the tests they need at their local hospital without driving hours to a bigger city.

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