COVID-19 testing drove a 17 percent increase in Medicare spending for lab tests in 2021, according to the HHS inspector general's office.
In a report published Dec. 19, the agency said Medicare Part B spending on lab tests increased $1.3 billion from 2020 to 2021, the largest increase since OIG started tracking lab spending in 2014.
COVID-19 tests accounted for a large portion of the spending, and payments for genetic testing also increased.
Medicare also spent more on chemistry tests in 2021 than 2020, but spending for those tests is yet to return to pre-pandemic levels, OIG said.
Read the full report here.