Physician Free to Bill at Prevailing Rate, Appellate Court Finds

A shipbuilder must pay a physician the prevailing rates for treatment of an injured worker and cannot use the federal fee schedule for Longshore and Harbor Workers’ Act claims to shave more than $10,000 off the bill, the Virginia Court of Appeals ruled. Case: Newport News Shipbuilding & Dry Dock v. Wardell Orthopaedics, Record No. 1183-16-1, 02/28/2017. Facts: Charles Bell injured his left knee in a forklift accident in 1995 while working for Newport News Shipbuilding. NNSB accepted the claim as compensable under both the Virginia Workers’ Compensation Act and the federal Lon...