CMS Incentives for Faster COVID-19 Tests

On October 15, 2020, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) announced  incentives to encourage faster high throughput COVID-19 diagnostic tests.  Effective January 1, 2021, Medicare will pay $100 to laboratories that complete COVID-19 diagnostic tests within two days of the specimen being collected while laboratories that take longer than two days to complete these tests will be paid only $75.  All laboratories are currently paid $100 by CMS for these tests.