A Quest Diagnostics survey found support across party lines for preventing Medicare clinical laboratory payment cuts of up to 15% set to take effect in January 2027.
An overwhelming majority of American voters support congressional intervention to prevent scheduled Medicare payment reductions for diagnostic testing, according to a survey by Quest Diagnostics.
The national survey found that an average of 75% of registered voters across party lines—including Republicans, Democrats, and Independents—believe Congress should act now to prevent Medicare lab payment cuts before they harm patients. Industry groups and laboratory advocates are urging Congress to pass the RESULTS Act before another round of payment cuts takes effect under the Clinical Laboratory Fee Schedule (CLFS) on Jan 1, 2027.
Overall, 83% of the 1,024 registered voters surveyed reported relying on a diagnostic laboratory test to guide medical decisions within the past two years, and 96% considered diagnostic tests important to their personal or family health care—with 75% calling them “very important.” Half of respondents noted that Medicare beneficiaries, rural communities, and individuals managing cancer or other chronic illnesses would experience the greatest harm if reimbursement rates are reduced further.
“For many dangerous health conditions, laboratory insights are the only tool available to identify disease risks in early, preventable stages,” says Lee H Hilborne, MD, MPH, senior national medical director at Quest Diagnostics and professor of pathology and laboratory medicine at UCLA, in a release. “This survey confirms that ordinary Americans understand the essential role of laboratory insights to quality, effective healthcare and recognize that when access to reliable, innovative testing is at risk, they and their families are the ones who will pay the price.”
Scheduled Reductions Under PAMA
The looming reimbursement cuts stem from the implementation of the Protecting Access to Medicare Act of 2014, which was designed to establish market-based CLFS rates by collecting private payor data across hospital outreach, independent, and physician office laboratories, according to the release.
However, Quest Diagnostics reported that initial CLFS rates were established using payment data from less than 1% of laboratories nationwide, resulting in payment reductions of nearly $4 billion between 2018 and 2020. Without congressional action, diagnostic tests face rate cuts of up to 15% starting January 1, 2027, with additional reductions of up to 15% planned for both 2028 and 2029.
“For older Americans, timely access to diagnostic testing is not optional—it is essential to detecting disease early, managing chronic conditions and making informed decisions about their care. Seniors should not face fewer choices or longer waits because of Medicare’s flawed payment system. The bipartisan RESULTS Act offers a commonsense solution, and Congress should prioritize passing it this year,” says Mark Gibbons, president and CEO of RetireSafe, in a release.
Industry Push for Legislative Relief
The RESULTS Act currently holds approximately 130 congressional sponsors and backing from more than 70 patient advocacy and medical organizations, including the American Medical Association, the American Hospital Association, the American Cancer Society, and the Association of American Medical Colleges, according to Quest Diagnostics.
The legislation aims to establish representative payment rates by granting the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services access to broader market data while setting annual guardrails to prevent destabilizing reimbursement cuts. The Congressional Problem Solvers Caucus formally called for the passage of the legislation in July 2026.
“These findings are consistent with the strong bipartisan support in Congress for protecting access to laboratory services,” says Susan Van Meter, president of the American Clinical Laboratory Association, in a release. “Laboratory tests are the GPS of healthcare for all patients and physicians—detecting disease, guiding treatment decisions to ensure the right therapy is provided at the right time, and managing chronic conditions. Congress should pass the bipartisan RESULTS Act before the scheduled cuts take effect to protect patient access to these essential services.”
The survey was conducted online by Regina Corso Consulting between June 11 and June 19, 2026, sampling 1,024 registered voters nationwide alongside an oversample of 624 respondents across Dallas, Houston, Las Vegas, Boston, Tampa, and Atlanta, matching US Census benchmarks with a margin of error of plus or minus 3.1%, according to Quest Diagnostics.
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