CMS's October 7, 2026 alert QSSAM-27-01 warns that third parties have mailed CLIA labs solicitations styled as bills. Genuine CLIA communications come only from CMS or your State Agency; fee coupons arrive by email and are paid on pay.gov. Check the sender, purpose and payment instructions, and ask the State Agency before paying.
On October 7, 2026, CMS issued a special alert to State Survey Agency directors, QSSAM-27-01-[CLIA], titled "Third-Party Solicitations Resembling Official CLIA Communications." It reports that CLIA-certified labs "in several states have received solicitation documents from a third-party entity that are styled as bills or invoices and may be mistaken for official CLIA communications," and names Iowa, Texas and Minnesota among the states where labs reported them. CMS's CLIA home page carries the same warning under the heading "Know Where Your CLIA Communications Come From."
What exactly did CMS say?
- The document "is not issued by CMS and does not represent an official CLIA fee or government notice."
- "Official CLIA communications come only from CMS or your State Survey Agency."
- The sender "is not affiliated with CMS and does not act on CMS's behalf."
- A lab's "certification and survey information is publicly available at no cost through the CMS QCOR website."
CMS asks labs to review any solicitation or invoice that looks official, "including the sender, purpose of the communication, and any requested fees or payment instructions," to share the alert with billing, compliance and administrative staff, and to confirm their email address is current with CMS. Labs with questions can contact their State Agency or the CMS CLIA program at LabExcellence@cms.hhs.gov.
How are real CLIA fees billed now?
Knowing the real process is the best defense, because it has become very specific:
- By email, not mail. "After March 1, 2026, CMS will send all fee coupons and CLIA certificates by email" (Quick Start Guide, March 2026). CMS's CLIA page says CMS "no longer mails paper certificates or fee coupons." A paper bill for CLIA fees in the mailbox is not how CMS bills today.
- Paid on pay.gov only. Labs "must pay their CLIA certification fee online though pay.gov," by bank account, debit or credit card, and CMS "no longer accepts paper checks."
- Tied to your CLIA number and certificate. The fee coupon shows the lab's 10-character CLIA number and the amount due, and arrives on the renewal schedule: for waiver, PPM and accredited labs, about six months before the certificate expires.
- Set amounts. As of October 2026 the current CMS fee is $248 for a Certificate of Waiver and $297 for PPM, with set fees for revised ($95 for a waiver) and replacement ($75) certificates. See CLIA fees in 2026.
What should staff check before paying anything CLIA-related?
- How did it arrive? CMS fee coupons come by email. A mailed "invoice" deserves a second look.
- Who sent it? Only CMS or your State Survey Agency sends genuine CLIA communications. Read the sender's name and address closely, and read the whole document, including the fine print.
- Where does it ask you to pay? Genuine CLIA fees are paid on pay.gov. A request to mail a check, wire money or pay through a private website is a red flag.
- Does the amount and timing make sense? Compare it with your certificate's expiration date and the current CMS fee for your certificate type.
- What is it offering? Certificate status checks and reprints are free on CMS's QCOR site, so a charge for either is not a CMS fee.
- When in doubt, ask. Call your State Agency or email LabExcellence@cms.hhs.gov before paying. See your CLIA State Agency.
How can you check your certificate status yourself?
Through CMS's QCOR lookup, which CMS describes as a way to "check your laboratory's certification and survey status for free, anytime." CMS's application page also points to QCOR to "access or reprint your laboratory's CLIA certificate." Knowing your own expiration date makes a badly timed "invoice" easy to spot.
How does a CLIA service company avoid looking like one of these?
By never doing what the look-alikes do. White Glove CLIA is a private filing service, not affiliated with CMS, CDC, FDA or any State Agency. Our own rules:
- We never collect, forward or bill a CMS or state fee. The lab pays CMS on pay.gov from its own coupon and pays the state directly.
- We never send anything styled as a CMS bill, a government notice or a certificate.
- We never put our email on a lab's CMS-116 or hold its email, pay.gov or state portal logins.
- Our invoices are for our own services at the prices on our pricing page, clearly from White Glove CLIA, and only for work the lab ordered.
Our Renewal and Compliance Tracking ($299 per year for the first lab, $99 per added site) includes helping the lab confirm whether a CLIA bill it received is genuine before anyone pays it. See email-only fee coupons and certificates and renewing a CLIA certificate.
Common questions
- How do I know if a CLIA invoice is real?
- Since March 1, 2026, CMS sends fee coupons by email, shows your CLIA number and the amount due, and takes payment only through pay.gov. CMS says official CLIA communications come only from CMS or your State Survey Agency. If anything differs, contact your State Agency before paying.
- Which states reported look-alike CLIA invoices?
- CMS's October 2026 special alert says labs in several states reported them, including Iowa, Texas and Minnesota.
- Where can I check my CLIA certificate status for free?
- CMS's QCOR website. CMS says labs can check certification and survey status there at no cost and access or reprint their certificate.
- Who do I contact about a suspicious CLIA bill?
- Your State Agency's CLIA office, or the CMS CLIA program at LabExcellence@cms.hhs.gov, as CMS's special alert recommends.
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