CLIA Waived Tests to Release list Effective on January 1, 2017

​The tests have been tweaked by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) it says are waived from Clinical Improvement Amendment of 1988 (CLIA), issuing the list effective on the day of January 1, 2017.

A facility is required by the CLIA regulations to be certified for each test conducted. Laboratory claims are edited at the CLIA certificate level to make sure that the Medicare and Medicaid merely pay for laboratory tests categorized as waived complexity under CLIA in facilities with a CLIA certificate of waiver. The CPT (Current Procedural Terminology) codes for the following latest tests must have the modifier QW to be recognized as a waived test; although, few codes in the list below, like 81002, 81025, 82270, 82272, 82962, 83026, 84830, 85013, and 85651,  do not need a QW modifier to be identified as a waived test. The codes and the dates for which the tests are waived are mentioned below:

• G0477QW, February 12, 2016, Greenbrier International, Inc. Assured THC One Step Marijuana Test Strip
• G0477QW, February 12, 2016, Greenbrier International, Inc. Assured THC One Step Marijuana Test Cassette
• G0477QW, March 18, 2016, Safecare Biotech Urine Test Amphetamine Cup
• G0477QW, March 18, 2016, Safecare Biotech Urine Test Amphetamine Cassette
• G0477QW, March 18, 2016, Safecare Biotech Urine Test Cocaine Cassette
• G0477QW, March 18, 2016, Safecare Biotech Urine Test Cocaine
• G0477QW, March 18, 2016, Safecare Biotech Urine Test Amphetamine DipCard
• G0477QW, March 18, 2016, Safecare Biotech Urine Test Cocaine DipCard
• G0477QW, March 18, 2016, Safecare Biotech Urine Test Marijuana Cassette
• G0477QW, March 18, 2016, Safecare Biotech Urine Test Marijuana DipCard
• 0477QW, March 18, 2016, Safecare Biotech Urine Test Marijuana Cup
• 83986QW, May 13, 2016, Teco Diagnostics OBGYN-VpH Vaginal pH Screening Kit
• G0477QW, June 9, 2016, Native Diagnostics International DrugSmart Multi-Panel Drug Screen Cup Tests
• G0477QW, June 9, 2016, Native Diagnostics International DrugSmart Dip Multi-Panel Drug Screen Dip Card Tests
• G0477QW, June 9, 2016, On-Site Testing Specialists, Inc. On-Site Testing Specialists Multi-Panel Drug Screen Cup Tests
• G0477QW, June 9, 2016, Native Diagnostics International DrugSmart Multi-Panel Drug Screen Cup with OPI 2000 Tests
• G0477QW, June 9, 2016, On-Site Testing Specialists, Inc. On-Site Testing Specialists Multi-Panel Drug Screen Cup with OPI 2000 Tests
• G0477QW, June 9, 2016, On-Site Testing Specialists, Inc. On-Site Testing Specialists Multi-Panel Drug Screen Dip Card with OPI 2000 Tests
• G0477QW, June 9, 2016, On-Site Testing Specialists, Inc. On-Site Testing Specialists Multi-Panel Drug Screen Dip Card Tests
• G0477QW, June 9, 2016, Alfa Scientific Designs, Inc. Instant-View Multi-Drug Urine Test Cup
• G0477QW, June 9, 2016, Alfa Scientific Designs, Inc. Instant-View Multi-Drug Urine Test Panel
• G0477QW, July18, 2016, Assure Tech. Co., Ltd. AssureTech Marijuana Quick Cup Test
• G0477QW, July18, 2016, Assure Tech. Co., Ltd. AssureTech Marijuana Strip Test
• G0477QW, July18, 2016, Assure Tech. Co., Ltd. AssureTech Marijuana Dip Card Test
• G0477QW, July18, 2016, Assure Tech. Co., Ltd. AssureTech Methamphetamine Dip Card
• G0477QW, July18, 2016, Assure Tech. Co., Ltd. AssureTech Methamphetamine Quick Cup Test
• G0477QW, July18, 2016, Assure Tech. Co., Ltd. AssureTech Marijuana Turn-Key Split Cup Test
• G0477QW, July18, 2016, Assure Tech. Co., Ltd. AssureTech Methamphetamine Strip Test
• G0477QW, July18, 2016, Assure Tech. Co., Ltd. AssureTech Methamphetamine Turn-Key Split Cup Test
• G0477QW, July18, 2016, Assure Tech. Co., Ltd. AssureTech Phencyclidine Quick Cup Test
• G0477QW, July18, 2016, Assure Tech. Co., Ltd. AssureTech Phencyclidine Strip Test
• G0477QW, July18, 2016, Assure Tech. Co., Ltd. AssureTech Phencyclidine Turn-Key Split Cup Test
• G0477QW, July18, 2016, Assure Tech. Co., Ltd. AssureTech Phencyclidine Dip Card Test
• 87631QW, July 25, 2016 Roche Molecular, cobas Liat System cobas Liat Influenza A/B & RSV Assay
• G0477QW, July 28, 2016, Germaine Laboratories, Inc., SafeCup II Multi-Drug Urine Test Cup
• G0477QW, July 28, 2016, Germaine Laboratories, Inc., AimScreen Multi-Drug Urine Test DipDevice
• G0477QW, July 29, 2016, NexScreen LLC, NEXSCREEN Multi-Drug Urine Test Dip Card
• G0477QW, July 29, 2016, NexScreen LLC, NEXSCREEN Multi-Drug Urine Test Cup
• 86308QW, August 4, 2016, McKesson Consult Mononucleosis Test Cassette {whole blood}
• 87880QW, September 4, 2016, Princeton BioMeditech Status First Strep A​

For More Information, please visit the CMS Website.