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The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) announced that the Clinical Laboratory Improvement Amendments (CLIA) program will bepaperless as of March 1, 2026.After this date, CMS will no longer send paper fee coupons, paper CLIA certificates, or CLIA update notifications to laboratories. All laboratories with current CLIA Certificates of Waiver, Compliance, Accreditation or Certificates for Provider-Performed Microscopy Procedures (PPM) will be impacted by this change and should ensure that their email contact information is updated as soon as possible.
Laboratories have three options for updating their email addresses:
- Contact your state agency to update your email. A list of state agencies with contact information can be foundhere.
- Fill out an updatedCMS 116 Application form, and select the box to "receive notifications including electronic certificates via email" in Section I: General Information.
- For accredited laboratories only:Contact your Accreditation Organization. Accreditation Organizations are now authorized to add or update email addresses for the laboratories they survey.
After March 1, 2026, CLIA certificates will be sent electronically to the indicated email address, and fees paid via the Pay.gov platform. As the CLIA program is not impacted by the current government shutdown, Polsinelli does not anticipate any delay of the March 1 deadline — though CMS indicated it will work with state agencies and accreditation organizations untilMay 2026to assist laboratories who miss the cutoff date.
The content of this article is intended to provide a general guide to the subject matter. Specialist advice should be sought about your specific circumstances.
