Damien Garza from ASCLS-Wisconsin shares why and how all clinical laboratory professionals should be advocating for the passage of SALSA.
What Can You Do?
- Visit stoplabcuts.org to contact your representative and senators.
- Sending them a personalized email, phone call, or letter expressing your support for H.R. 2377/S. 1000. Tell them who you are, what you do, and why this issue matters to you. Tell them how this directly affects you and your fellow citizens.
- Attend the Labvocate Symposium, September 30-October 1, 2024, at the Hilton Alexandria Old Town in Alexandria, Virginia, or virtually. This is a fantastic opportunity for networking, fun, education, and a great way to go right to the source and represent laboratorians nationwide in Washington, D.C. If you have never been, you are missing out on the experience of a lifetime.
Labvocate for SALSA Transcript
Hello. My name is Damien Garza, and I’m the government affairs chair for ASCLS-Wisconsin.
As medical laboratory scientists, we play a crucial role in patient care by ensuring accurate and timely diagnostic results. But did you know that legislation can greatly impact how we perform our jobs? Today, I want to focus on just one piece of legislation that could change the landscape of our profession, the Saving Access to Laboratory Services act, or SALSA. SALSA is a bipartisan bill introduced in 2023. Its goal? To set sustainable Medicare payments for the clinical laboratory fee schedule and ensure that laboratory tests remain accessible to millions of people.
To understand why SALSA is so crucial, lets look back at the Protecting Access to Medicare Act of 2014, or PAMA. While PAMA had good intentions, it had changed how Medicare payment rates were set using data that was incomplete and flawed. In 2017, the first round of data collection excluded almost all hospital and physician office laboratories. This flawed data led to significant cuts, $4 billion worth, affecting 75 percent of lab tests, including those for kidney disease, liver disease, diabetes, cancer, and more. SALSA aims to correct these issues by allowing the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services to recollect data, from a representative population of labs. This will lead to fairer payment rates and help ensure that critical lab tests remain accessible to those who need them most.
Now, you might be wondering, how can you help? Well, first, learn who your representatives and senators are, contact them and express your support for HR 2377. Let them know why this issue matters to you as a medical laboratory scientist. And for those looking to get even more involved, consider attending the ASCLS Labvocate Symposium this fall. It’s a fantastic opportunity to network, learn, and advocate for our profession in Washington, DC. With your help, we can pass SalsA and protect the vital laboratory services that so many depend on. Thank you for your dedication and commitment to patient care.