Labcorp reaffirms 2026-2029 outlook after CMS lab fee proposal

Labcorp says preliminary Medicare lab payment rates for 2027 through 2029 would bring steep annual cuts and are still under review

Labcorp Holdings says the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services released preliminary Clinical Laboratory Fee Schedule payment rates for 2027 through 2029 on September 21, 2026, under the Protecting Access to Medicare Act, known as PAMA.

The company says the rates rely on data that does not fully represent the broader commercial laboratory market and would impose steep annual payment cuts. Labcorp says it continues to support the RESULTS Act as an alternative to the current framework.

Despite the proposed cuts, Labcorp is reaffirming the long-term outlook it gave at its Investor Day on September 10, 2026. That outlook calls for compound annual revenue growth of 5% to 8%, adjusted operating margin expansion of 75 to 150 basis points by the end of 2029, and compound annual adjusted earnings per share growth of 8.5% to 11.5%. The company says it is still evaluating the CMS rates and will address their effect on 2027 guidance when it issues that guidance in February 2027.

Because the 2026 Investor Day guidance already accounts for regulatory pressure on lab pricing, the reaffirmation gives investors a baseline that does not yet reflect the newly released rates, leaving the size of any eventual adjustment an open question until Labcorp updates its 2027 forecast.