House Bills - 108th Congress

H.R. 5311—The Clinical Laboratory Compliance Improvement Act

On October 8, 2004, Representative Elijah Cummings (D-MD) introduced H.R. 5311, the Clinical Laboratory Compliance Improvement Act. The text of the bill is not yet available; however Representative Cummings’ introductory remarks in the Congressional Record state that the legislation would 1) establish whistleblower protections for employees of clinical laboratories and providers; 2) require CMS, state health agencies, and private laboratory accrediting organizations to share information about reports of deficiencies and investigative activity undertaken pursuant to such reports; 3) require that standard accreditation surveys be conducted without priori notice to the provider or clinical laboratory facility to be surveyed; and 4) require the Secretary of HHS to submit an annual report to Congress describing how CMS, private accrediting organizations, and state health agencies responded to reports of deficiencies during the preceding year. The bill was jointly referred to the House Committee on Energy and Commerce and the House Committee on Ways and Means.

Legislative Update (December 2004): Clinical Laboratory Compliance Improvement Act