Section 493.638 - Certificate fees(a)Basic rule. Laboratories must pay a fee that covers the costs incurred for the issuance, renewal, change in certificate type, or reinstatement of a terminated certificate with a gap in service, and other direct administrative costs, as applicable. The total of fees collected by HHS under the laboratory program must be sufficient to cover the general costs of administering the laboratory certification program under section 353 of the PHS Act.(1) For registration certificates, the fee is a flat fee that includes the costs for issuing the certificates, collecting the fees, and evaluating whether the procedures, tests, or examinations listed on the application fall within the testing allowed for the requested certificate.(2) For a certificate of waiver, the fee includes the costs for issuing the certificate; collecting the fees; evaluating whether the procedures, tests, or examinations listed on the application fall within the testing appropriate for the requested certificate; and determining whether a laboratory test meets the criteria for a waived test.(3) For a certificate for PPM procedures, the fee includes the costs for issuing the certificate, collecting the fees; and evaluating whether the procedures, tests, or examinations listed on the application meet the criteria for inclusion in the subcategory of PPM procedures.(4) For a certificate of accreditation, the fee includes the costs for issuing the certificate, collecting the fees, evaluating the programs of accrediting bodies, and evaluating whether the procedures, tests, or examinations listed on the application fall within the testing appropriate for the requested certificate.(5) For a certificate of compliance, the fee includes the costs for issuing the certificates, collecting the fees, evaluating and monitoring proficiency testing programs, and evaluating whether the procedures, tests or examinations listed on the application fall within the testing appropriate for the requested certificate.(b)Fee amount.(1) The certificate fee amount is set biennially by HHS. CMS will publish a notice in the FEDERAL REGISTER biennially with any adjustments to the fee amounts, including any adjustments due to inflation, in accordance with § 493.680 . For certificates of waiver and certificates of PPM, the certificate fee amount is based on the category of test complexity performed by the laboratory. For all other certificate types, the fee amount is based on the category of test complexity performed by the laboratory and schedules or ranges of annual laboratory test volume (excluding waived tests and tests performed for quality control, quality assurance, or proficiency testing purposes) and specialties tested, with the amounts of the fees in each schedule being a function of the costs for all aspects of general administration of CLIA as set forth in paragraph (c) of this section.(2) Certificate fees are assessed and payable at least biennially.(3) The amount of the fee payable by the laboratory is the amount listed in the most recent notice published in the FEDERAL REGISTER at the time the application, renewal, change in certificate type, or reinstatement is processed by HHS or its designee.(4) After processing an application for an issuance, renewal, change in certificate type, or reinstatement of a terminated certificate with a gap in service, HHS or its designee notifies the laboratory of the applicable fee amount.(c)Classification of laboratories for purposes of determining the fee amount for certificate types other than certificates of waiver or certificates of PPM.(1) For purposes of determining a laboratory's classification under this section, a test is a procedure or examination for a single analyte. (Tests performed for quality control, quality assessment, and proficiency testing are excluded from the laboratory's total annual volume.) Each profile (that is, group of tests) is counted as the number of separate procedures or examinations; for example, a chemistry profile consisting of 18 tests is counted as 18 separate procedures or tests.(2) For purposes of determining a laboratory's classification under this section, the specialties and subspecialties of service for inclusion are: (i) The specialty of Microbiology, which includes one or more of the following subspecialties: (ii) The specialty of Serology, which includes one or more of the following subspecialties: (iii) The specialty of Chemistry, which includes one or more of the following subspecialties: (iv) The specialty of Hematology.(v) The specialty of Immunohematology, which includes one or more of the following subspecialties: (A) ABO grouping and Rh typing.(B) Unexpected antibody detection.(C) Compatibility testing.(D) Unexpected antibody identification.(vi) The specialty of Pathology, which includes the following subspecialties: (vii) The specialty of Radiobioassay.(viii) The specialty of Histocompatibility.(ix) The specialty of Clinical Cytogenetics.(3) There are 11 schedules of laboratories for the purpose of determining the fee amount a laboratory is assessed. Each laboratory is placed into one of the 11 schedules in paragraphs (c)(3)(i) through (xi) of this section based on the laboratory's scope and volume of testing:(i)Schedule V. The laboratory performs not more than 2,000 laboratory tests annually.(ii)Schedule A. The laboratory performs tests in no more than three specialties of service with a total annual volume of more than 2,000 but not more than 10,000 laboratory tests.(iii)Schedule B. The laboratory performs tests in at least four specialties of service with a total annual volume of not more than 10,000 laboratory tests.(iv)Schedule C. The laboratory performs tests in no more three specialties of service with a total annual volume of more than 10,000 but not more than 25,000 laboratory tests.(v)Schedule D. The laboratory performs tests in at least four specialties with a total annual volume of more than 10,000 but not more than 25,000 laboratory tests.(vi)Schedule E. The laboratory performs more than 25,000 but not more than 50,000 laboratory tests annually.(vii)Schedule F. The laboratory performs more than 50,000 but not more than 75,000 laboratory tests annually.(viii)Schedule G. The laboratory performs more than 75,000 but not more than 100,000 laboratory tests annually.(ix)Schedule H. The laboratory performs more than 100,000 but not more than 500,000 laboratory tests annually.(x)Schedule I. The laboratory performs more than 500,000 but not more than 1,000,000 laboratory tests annually.(xi)Schedule J. The laboratory performs more than 1,000,000 laboratory tests annually. 88 FR 90035 , Dec. 28, 2023