President's Message

Welcome to the ACLA website!   We strive to keep this site updated with the latest information on ACLA activities, position papers and meetings.

ACLA’s membership, advocacy agenda, and visibility with policymakers continues to grow.   Last year, ACLA advocacy efforts were in full swing with major action on health care reform legislation, as well as a multitude of reimbursement, regulatory, coding/coverage, and other issues.   During the 2009 health reform debate, ACLA was instrumental in successfully fighting proposals in the Senate that would have added coinsurance for laboratory services in Medicare as well as the establishment of an entirely new fee/tax on all laboratory tests.    The tax would have applied to virtually all laboratory testing services including Medicare, Non-Medicare, clinical laboratory, and pathology, and all types of laboratories (hospital and independent).   These successes followed the successful campaign the year before in which the Medicare Laboratory Competitive Bidding Demonstration Project was totally repealed.

ACLA has become the preeminent industry association for laboratories of all shapes and sizes, including national, regional, and local independent, genetic and molecular, pathology, hospital, ESRD, and others.   ACLA’s membership has more than tripled in the past five years.    ACLA’s staff, consultants and legal counsel have also grown to increase the effectiveness of our advocacy agenda, to provide outstanding services to all of our members, and to raise exponentially the visibility of the laboratory industry among policymakers.

If you are a clinical laboratory that is not an ACLA member, and are interested in applying, please contact me directly at amertz@clinical-labs.org.    Also, in 2009, ACLA established an Associate Member program for health care companies and organizations that are not laboratories, but are interested in laboratory issues.   For more information about ACLA Associate Membership, please contact David Mongillo at dmongillo@clinical-labs.org

We are also very proud of the “Results for Life” campaign which is devoted entirely to promoting the value of laboratory services.  The campaign is directed and supported by ACLA members, Associate Members, and other diagnostic groups.  More information can be found at www.labresultsforlife.org

Again, welcome to the ACLA website.   Please don’t hesitate to contact me or any of the ACLA staff for more information about ACLA and its programs.

Alan Mertz

President

ACLA Delivers Lab 'Results

ACLA is the voice for clinical laboratories, and an effective advocate before federal and state goverment.  Click here to read about ACLA's remarkable record of achievement on behalf of the laboratory industry.ody