[Congressional Record Volume 143, Number 106 (Thursday, July 24, 1997)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E1512]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




       THE CLINICAL LABORATORY IMPROVEMENT ACT AMENDMENTS OF 1997

                                 ______
                                 

                            HON. BILL ARCHER

                                of texas

                    in the house of representatives

                        Thursday, July 24, 1997

  Mr. ARCHER. Mr. Speaker, I am introducing the Clinical Laboratory 
Improvement Act Amendments of 1997 [CLIA '97], a bill identical to H.R. 
1386 which had 131 cosponsors in the 104th Congress. H.R. 1386 was 
included in the House passed Balanced Budget Act of 1995 but was 
dropped by the Senate on a budget point of order. Like its predecessor, 
this legislation exempts physicians' office laboratories from the 
Clinical Laboratory Improvements Act of 1988 [CLIA '88], reduces the 
burdens on physicians who perform laboratory tests in their offices and 
consequently improves patient care while lowering patient costs. Also 
like its predecessor, this legislation would continue the regulation of 
any laboratory that performs pap smear analysis.
  CLIA '88 has created enormous barriers to quality medical services 
for millions of Americans. Thousands of physicians have had to 
discontinue all or some portion of essential office laboratory testing, 
including tests for pregnancy and rapid strep. This creates a barrier 
to patient compliance with treatment protocols and subsequently causes 
patient inconvenience. For example, in those offices which have 
discontinued testing, a patient must now be referred to an outside 
laboratory to have the specimen taken and tested. This poses a 
substantial hardship for many patients, most notably the elderly, the 
disabled, and families who live in underserved areas. Oftentimes these 
patients cannot travel to or find someone to take them to these 
facilities. The result is that they do not obtain the necessary test 
which may interfere with their treatment or they go to a hospital 
emergency room when they become sicker and where the costs of testing 
are much greater.
  CLIA '97 is an essential part of the Congress' continued efforts to 
provide affordable and quality health care to millions of Americans. 
CLIA '88 has added billions of dollars to the cost of healthcare and 
has significantly increased the Federal Government's expenditures for 
laboratory services. In the first 5 years following the enactment of 
CLIA '88, Medicare expenditures for laboratory services increased $3.1 
billion or 110 percent to $5.9 billion annually. Last year, an 
independent analysis conducted by the Health Care Financing 
Administration's [HCFA] former Chief Actuary, using HCFA's own 
methodology, found that the Federal Government could save $800 million 
to $1.4 billion over the next 7 years by exempting physician office 
testing from CLIA '88.
  I hope that my colleagues, on both sides of the aisle, will join me 
in supporting this legislation which will reduce health care costs and 
improve the ability of patients to receive appropriate laboratory tests 
conveniently and in a timely fashion.

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