Labor Committee Weighing Compromise on Balance Billing

By Michael Whiteley, Eastern Bureau ChiefThe Senate Labor Committee will try and reach a compromise Thursday on three bills sought by claimants' attorneys that would prevent medical providers from trying to collect portions of unpaid bills from injured workers and from taking billing disputes to state Superior Court.The bills would outlaw the practice, known as "balance billing," by declaring all medical bills to be the responsibility of carriers, self-insured employers or third-party administrators and "shall not be charged or collectible" from injured workers.All three bills declare medi...