CWCI: Med-Legal Costs Soar Following Changes

Payments for medical-legal services to resolve disputes over compensability issues in workplace injury claims have risen “sharply” under the new medical-legal fee schedule that took effect in 2021, according to a California Workers’ Compensation Institute study. In April 2021 the California Division of Workers’ Compensation implemented a new fee schedule for the first time since 2006 that it predicted would increase medical-legal costs by no more than 25%. The new fee schedule changed payment formulas for evaluations and reports. The old fee schedule consisted of a fl...