Medical & Imaging Labs NAICS 621511, 621512

Mar 18, 2026 - ACA Enrollment Decreases

• Enrollment in Affordable Care Act (ACA) health insurance plans through Healthcare.gov has modestly decreased, according to the Washington Post. Most ACA expansion programs must cover many recommended preventive test and imaging services without any patient cost-sharing, according to healthcare policy research organization KFF. The decrease may confirm concerns that higher ACA insurance costs after Congress failed to extend pandemic-era subsidies would result in lower enrollment. About 23 million Americans had signed up on the Affordable Care Act federal marketplace as of January 15, 2026, the last day to enroll in the program, according to Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services representatives. Enrollment totaled 24.2 million people at the same time in 2025. Analysts at the Congressional Budget Office cited higher monthly payments without pandemic-era subsidies as a key cause of the decrease.
• The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) did not appeal a federal court ruling that the agency does not have the authority to regulate laboratory-developed tests. The FDA finalized a plan in 2024 to regulate laboratory-developed medical tests due to concerns about reliability and risks to patients. The agency argued that inaccurate results may force patients to unnecessarily start a new treatment or delay care. Major industry players, including academic medical centers that develop their own tests and large commercial laboratories, opposed the plan.

• Medicare payments to Medicare Advantage plans are expected to increase an average of 3.7%, or over $16 billion in 2025, according to the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services. Medical and imaging laboratories are likely to benefit from the increase in expenditures. The finalized the Calendar Year 2025 Rate Announcement for Medicare Advantage is projected to result in payments of between $500 and $600 billion in Medicare Advantage payments to private health plans in 2025.
• Medical and imaging laboratory industry employment increased slightly and average wages for nonsupervisory employees decreased significantly during the first eight months of 2025, according to the US Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS). Medical and imaging labs increased prices slightly during the first nine months of 2025, according to the BLS. Medical and imaging laboratory industry revenue increased 6.7% year over year and 5.3% quarter over quarter during the second quarter of 2025, according to the US Census Bureau.