Quest Diagnostics Incorporated

Welcome to the Quest Diagnostics third quarter 2022 conference call. At the request of the company, this call is being recorded. The entire contents of the call, including the presentation and question-answer session that will follow, are copyrighted property of Quest Diagnostics, with all rights reserved. Any redistribution, retransmission, or rebroadcast of this call in any form without the written consent of Quest Diagnostics is strictly prohibited. Now I'd like to introduce Sean Bevick, Vice President of Investor Relations for Quest Diagnostics. Go ahead, please.

Thank you and good morning. I am joined by Steve Roszkowski, our Chairman, Chief Executive Officer and President, Jim Davis, CEO-elect, and Sam Samad, our Chief Financial Officer. During this call, we may make forward-looking statements and will discuss non-GAAP measures. We provide a reconciliation of non-GAAP measures to comparable GAAP measures in the tables to our earnings press release. Actual results may differ materially from those projected. Risks and uncertainties, including the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic that may affect Quest Diagnostics' future results include, but are not limited to, those described in our most recent annual report on Form 10-K and subsequently filed quarterly reports on Form 10-Q and current reports on Form 8-K. The company continues to believe that the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on future operating results cash flows and or its financial condition will be primarily driven by pandemic's severity and duration, healthcare insurer, government, and client payer reimbursement for COVID-19 molecular tests, the pandemic's impact on the US healthcare system and the US economy, and the timing, scope, and effectiveness of federal, state, and local governmental responses to the pandemic, including the impact of vaccination efforts, which are drivers beyond the company's knowledge and control. For this call, References to reported EPS refer to reported diluted EPS and references to adjusted EPS refer to adjusted EPS. Any references to base business testing revenues or volumes refer to the performance of our business, excluding COVID-19 testing. Growth rates associated with our long-term outlook projections, including total revenue growth, revenue growth from acquisitions, organic revenue growth, and adjusted earnings growth are compound annual growth rates. Finally, revenue growth rates from acquisitions will be measured against our base business. Now, here is Steve Roszkowski.

Thanks, Sean, and thanks, everyone, for joining us today. Well, we had a strong third quarter. We drove 5% growth in the base business despite the impact of Hurricane Ian, and we delivered strong earnings despite inflationary pressures and investments in growth areas. Based on our performance, we have raised our outlook for the remainder of 2022. We also made very good progress on our leadership transition, adding management depth and expertise to help us grow in important areas. As you know, Jim will assume the responsibilities as CEO and President on November 1st, and I will remain as Executive Chairman. Before I turn it over to Jim, I'd like to say a few words about Saving Access to Laboratory Services Act, SALSA. If enacted, SALSA would fix PAMA and put the Medicare clinical laboratory fee schedule back on a sustainable path. Based on the efforts of our Church Association, support for SALSA has broadened and continues to strengthen. As you know, we are currently planning for a Medicare fee schedule reduction under PAMA of $80 to $90 million in 2023 if Congress does not intervene again this year. However, the work we are doing is aimed at reducing or postponing that burden, and fortunately, Congress has already acted three times to stop further cuts from going into place. It is therefore very important that we continue to build support for the enactment of Salsa when Congress returns to Washington after the election. As I transition to the Executive Chairman, I will remain actively engaged on this issue, working with ACLA and other stakeholders. Now I would like to turn it over to Jim Davis.