Skip to main content

Main menu

  • Home
  • Content
    • Current
    • Ahead of print
    • Archive
  • Info for
    • Authors
    • Reviewers
  • About Us
    • About Us
    • Conflict of Interest
    • Informed Consent
    • Human and Animal Rights
  • More
    • Alerts
    • Feedback
    • Folders
  • ascls.org
    • ascls.org

User menu

  • My alerts
  • Log in
  • My Cart

Search

  • Advanced search
American Society for Clinical Laboratory Science
  • ascls.org
    • ascls.org
  • My alerts
  • Log in
  • My Cart
American Society for Clinical Laboratory Science

Advanced Search

  • Home
  • Content
    • Current
    • Ahead of print
    • Archive
  • Info for
    • Authors
    • Reviewers
  • About Us
    • About Us
    • Conflict of Interest
    • Informed Consent
    • Human and Animal Rights
  • More
    • Alerts
    • Feedback
    • Folders
  • Follow ASCLS on Twitter
  • Visit ASCLS on Facebook
  • Follow ASCLS on Instagram
  • RSS Feed
Research ArticleDialogue and Discussion

Competitive Bidding – the Continuing Saga

Paula Garrott
American Society for Clinical Laboratory Science October 2007, 20 (4) 194-195; DOI: https://doi.org/10.29074/ascls.20.4.194
Paula Garrott
  • Find this author on Google Scholar
  • Find this author on PubMed
  • Search for this author on this site
  • Article
  • Info & Metrics
  • PDF
Loading

This article requires a subscription to view the full text. If you have a subscription you may use the login form below to view the article. Access to this article can also be purchased.

  1. Paula Garrott

Extract

Competitive bidding is an approach that has long been favored by Congress to attempt to control costs in a variety of arenas by allowing the marketplace to competitively determine prices. Some would argue it is, on the surface, the “American Way”. However, each time this approach has been suggested to control the cost of laboratory services the clinical laboratory community has staunchly argued that while competitive bidding for durable goods may be effective, it will not work for services that are provided by highly skilled professionals in diverse settings to even more diverse populations.

For many years a competitive bidding strategy was discussed by Congress, but the laboratory community effectively lobbied against it. However in 2003, in the wake of public pressure over provision of prescription drugs for Medicare recipients, the Medicare Prescription Drug Improvement and Modernization Act (MMA) was passed by Congress and included a mandate for a competitive bidding demonstration project for clinical laboratory services. The proposed purpose of the project was to determine if market driven competitive bidding could be used to decrease costs to the Medicare program to provide quality clinical laboratory services. Although the project was to begin in April 2007, the complexities involved in the development of bidding guidelines have delayed the implementation.

The current mechanism for reimbursing laboratories for services provided to Medicare beneficiaries is a fee schedule that was established in 1984. Although most laboratory stakeholders recognize that the fee schedule is outdated and irrational based on today's technology, they are united…

  • © Copyright 2007 American Society for Clinical Laboratory Science Inc. All rights reserved.
PreviousNext
Back to top

In this issue

American Society for Clinical Laboratory Science: 20 (4)
American Society for Clinical Laboratory Science
Vol. 20, Issue 4
Fall 2007
  • Table of Contents
  • Table of Contents (PDF)
  • Index by author
  • Back Matter (PDF)
  • Front Matter (PDF)
Download PDF
Article Alerts
Sign In to Email Alerts with your Email Address
Email Article

Thank you for your interest in spreading the word on American Society for Clinical Laboratory Science.

NOTE: We only request your email address so that the person you are recommending the page to knows that you wanted them to see it, and that it is not junk mail. We do not capture any email address.

Enter multiple addresses on separate lines or separate them with commas.
Competitive Bidding – the Continuing Saga
(Your Name) has sent you a message from American Society for Clinical Laboratory Science
(Your Name) thought you would like to see the American Society for Clinical Laboratory Science web site.
CAPTCHA
This question is for testing whether or not you are a human visitor and to prevent automated spam submissions.
Citation Tools
Competitive Bidding – the Continuing Saga
Paula Garrott
American Society for Clinical Laboratory Science Oct 2007, 20 (4) 194-195; DOI: 10.29074/ascls.20.4.194

Citation Manager Formats

  • BibTeX
  • Bookends
  • EasyBib
  • EndNote (tagged)
  • EndNote 8 (xml)
  • Medlars
  • Mendeley
  • Papers
  • RefWorks Tagged
  • Ref Manager
  • RIS
  • Zotero
Request Permissions
Share
Competitive Bidding – the Continuing Saga
Paula Garrott
American Society for Clinical Laboratory Science Oct 2007, 20 (4) 194-195; DOI: 10.29074/ascls.20.4.194
Twitter logo Facebook logo Mendeley logo
  • Tweet Widget
  • Facebook Like
  • Google Plus One

Jump to section

  • Article
  • Info & Metrics
  • PDF

Related Articles

  • No related articles found.
  • Google Scholar

Cited By...

  • No citing articles found.
  • Google Scholar

More in this TOC Section

Dialogue and Discussion

  • Hail and Farewell
  • Response to Fall 2011 Article: Clinical Molecular Testing: Subspecialty, Entry-level or Specialist Certification
  • A Rose by Any Other Name is a … Dandelion?
Show more Dialogue and Discussion

Washington Beat

  • Challenges in Laboratory Coding 2015
  • The Saga of Health Care Reform
  • The 111th Congress and Health Care Reform
Show more Washington Beat

Similar Articles

© 2025 The American Society for Clinical Laboratory Science

Powered by HighWire