Quest Diagnostics 2000 Annual Report Download - page 39

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CAUTIONARY STATEMENT FOR PURPOSES OF THE “SAFE HARBOR” PROVISIONS OF THE
PRIVATE SECURITIES LITIGATION REFORM ACT OF 1995
Some statements and disclosures in this document are forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements
include all statements that do not relate solely to historical or current facts and can be identified by the use of words such
as “may”, “believe”, “will”, “expect”, “project”, “estimate”, “anticipate”, “plan” or “continue”. These forward-looking
statements are based on our current plans and expectations and are subject to a number of risks and uncertainties that
could significantly cause our plans and expectations, including actual results, to differ materially from the forward-
looking statements. The Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 provides a “safe harbor” for forward-looking
statements to encourage companies to provide prospective information about their companies without fear of litigation.
We would like to take advantage of the “safe harbor” provisions of the Litigation Reform Act in connection with
the forward-looking statements included in this document. Investors are cautioned not to unduly rely on such forward-
looking statements when evaluating the information presented in this document. The following important factors could
cause our actual financial results to differ materially from those projected, forecasted or estimated by us in forward-
looking statements:
(a) Heightened competition, including increased pricing pressure and competition from hospitals for testing for
non-patients. See “Business – Competition.”
(b) Impact of changes in payer mix, including any shift from traditional, fee-for-service medicine to capitated
managed-cost healthcare. See “Business – Payers and Customers – Customers – Managed Care
Organizations.”
(c) Adverse actions by government or other third-party payers, including unilateral reduction of fee schedules
payable to us and a resumption by managed care organizations of the practice of negotiating for exclusive
contracts that involve aggressively priced capitated payments. See “Business – Regulation of
Reimbursement for Clinical Laboratory Services” and “Business – Payers and Customers – Customers –
Managed Care Organizations.”
(d) The impact upon our volume and collected revenue or general or administrative expenses resulting from our
compliance with Medicare and Medicaid administrative policies and requirements of third-party payers.
These include:
(1) the requirements of Medicare carriers to provide diagnosis codes for many commonly ordered tests and
the likelihood that third-party payers will increasingly adopt similar requirements;
(2) the policy of HCFA to limit Medicare reimbursement for tests contained in automated chemistry panels
to the amount that would have been paid if only the covered tests, determined on the basis of
demonstrable “medical necessity,” had been ordered;
(3) continued inconsistent practices among the different local carriers administering Medicare; and
(4) Proposed changes by HCFA to the ABN form.
See “Business – Regulation of Reimbursement for Clinical laboratory Services” and “Business – Billing”.
(e) Adverse results from pending or future government investigations or private actions. These include, in
particular:
(1) significant monetary damages and/or exclusion from the Medicare and Medicaid programs and/or other
significant litigation matters;
(2) the absence of indemnification from Corning for private claims unrelated to the indemnified
government claims or investigations and for private claims that are not settled by December 31, 2001.
See “Business – Government Investigations and Related Claims;”