NEW YORK – Natera said on Thursday that it has been selected to participate in UnitedHealthcare’s Preferred Laboratory Network (PLN), effective July 1.
The company joins 11 other laboratories participating in the PLN program in 2022 — Aegis Sciences, AmeriPath, BioReference Laboratories, Clinical Pathology Laboratories, Invitae, Laboratory Corporation of America, Mayo Clinic Laboratories, Millennium Health, Myriad Genetics, Neogenomics, and Quest Diagnostics.
UHC launched the PLN in 2019, with participating labs meeting its highest levels of quality, service, and cost criteria. While patients can still receive covered lab services from any of UHC's roughly 300 member labs, the insurer incentivizes patients to use PLN labs by reducing out-of-pocket costs at those labs.
All labs in the UHC network are eligible to apply for inclusion in the PLN, and labs that are not selected can reapply on an annual basis. Since the program launched, it has expanded from six to 12 participating labs.
"Natera is pleased to be part of UnitedHealthcare's PLN and we look forward to continuing to provide UHC plan members with an outstanding experience," Matthew Mega, VP of market access at Natera, said in a statement. "We remain committed to making personalized genetic testing and diagnostics part of the standard of care."