Saturday, February 14, 2026

Get It Here: Another Detailed RFK Jr Interview with Podcast Host

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On February 1, I published a detailed review of a long interview between RFK Jr and podcast host Katie Miller ( here ).  Regular news covere...
Friday, February 13, 2026

CMS Updates PAMA Reporting Information - Timelines are Short

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 PAMA lab price reporting, for CMS median rate-setting, has been frozen since 2019.   Based on section 6226 of the February 3 federal budget...
Thursday, February 12, 2026

Podcast Scan: Owkin's Podcast with Jorge Reis-Filho

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Owkin is a French company on the cutting edge of genomic/cellular/biomarker/AI discovery. They have 63 videos on YouTube , many of them vide...

CMS Gapfill: Spring 2026 Update

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Each fall, CMS determines which of 100-odd new lab codes are crosswalked and which are "gapfilled," meaning priced by MACs - for...

Amal Thommil Updates Decibio MRD Coverage (February 2026)

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 Amal Thommil at DeciBio updates us on coverage for minimal residual disease testing (MRD). See his chart here . click to enlarge

AI VERSION: My Heart Skipped a Beat, CMS Proposes X1-X2 Modifiers for NCD 90.2 (NGS in Cancer)

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Below, Chat GPT 5.2 rewrites a blog I wrote "by hand." ### Header:  CMS proposes X1/X2 modifiers to encode cancer stage on NGS cla...

My Heart Skipped a Beat: CMS Proposed X1, X2 Modifiers for NCD 90.2 NGS in Cancer

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CMS has an NCD, 90.2, which was designed in 2017 (with help from senior policy folk at HHS) to provide an incentive for FDA approval of the...

This May Save Your (Reimbursement Nerd) Life Someday: CMS Defines CR Implementation Date vs Effective Date!

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Header:  CMS issues MAC instructions (e.g. for NCDs) by "Change Release" instructions, which are also public.  Every new requirem...
Tuesday, February 10, 2026

Excellent MedTech Podcast: From R&D to FDA to Commercialization (Dr Doug Kelly, FDA)

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Heard an excellent podcast today on MedtechTalk, featuring Douglas Kelly MD MBA , a physician and venture capitalist who served 2020-2025 as...

Big News for Digital Pathology: AMA Appears Set to Use CATEGORY III for Whole Slide Imaging / AI

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It's no secret that AMA CPT PLA made a half-dozen codes for whole-slide imaging 3 to 4 years ago, and then seemingly imposed a "mor...
Monday, February 9, 2026

Medical History: Specialties Draw Opposite Conclusions from the Same Data

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 I just came back  from the AMA CPT meeting, where dozens of topics are debated "pro and con" with opposing stakeholders. I was re...

AMA CPT: Important Clarifications to Confidentiality Policy

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At the February 5-6, 2026 AMA CPT meeting, the first couple hours are devoted to "new news" rather than code review. There was an ...
Sunday, February 8, 2026

OIG Report for Lab Spending 2024 Omits "81479" As Line Item

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Header:  OIG Report on 2024 Lab Spending Omits 81479, the Biggest MoPath Code In January, the OIG released a required annual report about ye...
Thursday, February 5, 2026

Legislation Delays PAMA, Sets New Base Year

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Header:  PAMA Cycle Delayed to 2027, With New Base Year 2025 Background PAMA is legislation passed in 2014, one part of which planned for th...
Wednesday, February 4, 2026

Google & ICER (Humor)

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I was on a call where someone mentioned the ICER health econ organization.  I haven't heard of them for a few months.  I googled ICER.  ...