Study Finds Percent-of-Charge Fee Schedules Didn't Cut Outpatient Costs even after Rate Reductions

Hospital outpatient fee schedules based on a percentage of charges led to higher costs compared to states that use fixed rates, according to a report released Thursday by the Workers Compensation Research Institute. Even after North Carolina and Kansas reduced the percentage rate, they failed to reign in long-term cost inflation, WCRI said. Percent-of-charge fee schedules require payers to reimburse a hospital at a given percentage of whatever the hospital bills. The WCRI's third Hospital Outpatient Cost Index identified seven states in particular that use this method during the study pe...