Additional Medical Fee Schedule Changes Would Increase Costs by $98M

Proposed changes to Florida’s workers’ compensation medical fee schedules could increase costs by close to $100 million a year in 2017, on top of a $64 million a year cost increase from a revised fee schedule taking effect on July 1. The Florida Division of Workers’ Compensation three-member panel is meeting this morning to review new maximum reimbursement schedules for physicians, hospitals and ambulatory surgery centers. As proposed, the new hospital fee schedule would increase workers’ comp medical costs by 3.1% and overall costs by 2.2%, or $80 million, according ...