CGM responds to Court of Appeals ruling in support of ACLA

In a victory for Medicare testing labs, the ACLA lawsuit challenging HHS regulatory overreach moves forward

CompuGroup Medical responds in favor of last week's U.S. Court of Appeals ruling in support of the American Clinical Laboratory Association (ACLA).

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia ruled in favor of the ACLA in its lawsuit against the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary's implementation of the Protecting Access to Medicare Act (PAMA). Following this ruling, the case returns to the U.S. District Court of the District of Columbia to decide the case on its merits.

Carl Smith, General Manager at CompuGroup Medical, issued this statement:

"This ruling is a victory for any facility performing laboratory testing for Medicare beneficiaries," Smith said. "In ACLA v. Azar, the ACLA is holding the HHS Secretary’s flawed implementation of PAMA to account. This suit aims to ensure that PAMA is implemented as Congress intended and that fair, market-based values can be determined for Medicare reimbursements."

"We strongly commend the Court of Appeals' decision and are very encouraged that it recognizes that ACLA is entitled to challenge the harmful regulatory overreach by the HHS Secretary in his implementation of PAMA," American Clinical Laboratory Association President Julie Khani said in a statement. "HHS's continued flawed data collection process poses a direct challenge to the rule of law and PAMA's intent to support a sustainable, market-based laboratory market for millions of seniors."

Originally filed in 2017, ACLA's lawsuit notes that the HHS Secretary’s final rule "violates Congress' unambiguous statutory directive to collect data from any 'laboratory' that receives a majority of its Medicare revenues from the relevant fee schedules. Instead, the Secretary's rule rewrites the statute's majority-of-revenues test to take into account non-laboratory revenue and, through this rewrite, exempts virtually all hospital laboratories from the data-reporting requirements. Because hospital laboratories are significant participants in Medicare and compete with independent laboratories and physician office laboratories in the private market, the Secretary’s rule guarantees that the data collected does not reliably represent the private market as Congress intended."

About CompuGroup Medical

CompuGroup Medical is one of the leading eHealth companies in the world. With a revenue base of EUR 746 million in 2019, its software products are designed to support all medical and organizational activities in doctors' offices, pharmacies, laboratories and hospitals. Its information services for all parties involved in the healthcare system and its web-based personal health records contribute towards safer and more efficient healthcare. CompuGroup Medical’s services are based on a unique customer base of more than 1.5 million users, including doctors, dentists, pharmacists and other health professionals in inpatient and outpatient facilities. With locations in 18 countries and products in 56 countries worldwide, CompuGroup Medical is the eHealth company with one of the highest coverages among eHealth service providers. Approximately 6,100 highly qualified employees support customers with innovative solutions for the steadily growing demands of the healthcare system.