Coalition for 21st Century Medicine Endorses 'Patient Access to Critical Lab Tests...

Coalition for 21st Century Medicine Endorses 'Patient Access to Critical Lab
Tests Act'

- Legislation Seeks to Ensure Medicare Beneficiaries Have Access to
Life-Saving Diagnostic Tests, Encourage Continued Innovation of Personalized
Medicine -

WASHINGTON, March 30 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The Coalition for 21st Century
Medicine today announced its full endorsement for the Patient Access to
Critical Lab Tests Act, legislation introduced in the U.S. House of
Representatives on March 25th by Representatives Jason Altmire (D-PA), Anna
Eshoo (D-CA) and Tim Murphy (R-PA). The legislation will provide Medicare
beneficiaries enhanced access to advanced diagnostic laboratory tests that can
help improve the lives of millions of patients suffering from debilitating
diseases. Additionally, the bill will encourage continued innovation in the
burgeoning and promising field of personalized medicine.

Mapping the human genome has enabled revolutionary advances in understanding a
wide variety of diseases and ushered in an era where treatments can be
tailored to individual patients based on their DNA and the specific molecular
character of their disease. Complex diagnostic laboratory tests make such
"personalized medicine" possible. By understanding the molecular nature of
disease, these new technologies increasingly allow clinicians and patients to
pick individualized treatment options, rather than basing treatment choices on
broad assessments of what works best for a population.

Current Medicare regulations thwart access to these important tests and
discourage innovation by requiring hospitals to act as middlemen in the
billing process. Laboratories are required to bill hospitals, and hospitals
are required to bill Medicare. An access problem arises because hospitals are
reluctant to assume the financial risk that the laboratory service will be
covered and reimbursed by Medicare. The Patient Access to Critical Lab Tests
Act would permit independent laboratories that develop and perform certain
qualifying genetic, genomic or proteomic tests and cancer chemosensitivity
assays to bill Medicare directly.

The Coalition for 21st Century Medicine applauds these Representatives for
pursuing solutions to break down the barriers that block patients from
receiving timely access to these important diagnostic tests.

About the Coalition for 21st Century Medicine
The Coalition for 21st Century Medicine represents some of the world's most
innovative diagnostic technology companies, clinical laboratories,
researchers, physicians, venture capitalists and patient advocacy groups - all
linked by a common mission to develop advanced diagnostics that improve the
quality of healthcare for patients. For more information about the Coalition
for 21st Century Medicine please visit
http://www.twentyfirstcenturymedicine.org.

SOURCE The Coalition for 21st Century Medicine

Joseph Eyer, +1-202-56-4158, jeyer@deweysquare.com, for the Coalition for 21st
Century Medicine