Hospital Outpatient Costs Higher in States Without Set Fee Schedules

Hospital outpatient payments for injured workers grew faster in states with fee schedules that are based on a percentage of hospital charges and in states without fee schedules, according to a study released Thursday by the Workers Compensation Research Institute. The Waltham, Massachusetts-based institute analyzed payments for common outpatient surgeries across 36 states, representing 88% of the nation’s workers' compensation benefits. Covering data from 2005 to 2023, the study also compared workers' compensation hospital payments to Medicare rates, finding that the average com...