Fee Dispute Can't Resolve Challenge to Reasonableness of Supplies Provided to Worker

The Commonwealth Court of Pennsylvania last week ruled that an insurance carrier cannot raise a defense in a fee review hearing based on the alleged unreasonableness of the service for which it refused to pay. If the carrier believes that an injured worker has been receiving an excessive amount of medical supplies, the court said, it needs to request a utilization review. It can’t challenge the worker’s need for the supplies as a defense to the supplier’s request for payment. The issue arose in a dispute over the supplies that Tammy Hudson uses for a neuromuscular elec...