In February, the North Carolina Industrial Commission approved a revised medical fees schedule that will save North Carolina’s Workers’ Compensation system about $27 million annually. The new fee schedule is currently going into effect and will continue to be implemented throughout 2017.
The Medical Fees Section of the North Carolina Industrial Commission is responsible for processing medical bills for services provided under a workers’ compensation claim. Medical bills are reviewed and sometimes adjusted before being submitted to the insurance carrier for payment. Under the previous medical fee schedule, certain fees were higher than the national average while other fees were low.
The new fee schedule reflects a compromise between workers’ compensation insurance carriers and medical providers. The new schedule was put into place in order to bring all reimbursement rates closer to the national average, to ensure that injured workers receive a high standard of medical care, and to reimburse health care providers with reasonable fees for their services.