As of March 15th 2018, the Health Care Services Rules and new workers compensation fee schedule updates will officially go into effect. The Workers Compensation Agency (WCA) encourages medical professionals and providers to begin focusing on familiarizing themselves with these updates before reaching the deadline to ensure a seamless transition. Updates to the Health Care Services Rules and new workers compensation fee schedule will include changes to the language used during the reimbursement of prescribed medications, new invoicing and refund procedures for air ambulances, and improved laboratory process codes for drug screening, testing, and confirmation testing.
In order to protect the interests of all parties involved, medical providers are required by Michigan law to follow a systematic fee schedule in order to accept payments – a process recognized in the industry as “cost containment.” This means that proper claim forms must always be used to submit charges in order to guarantee that the insurance companies are able to accurately process them. For instance, billings should always be submitted on one of either two types of claim forms, a UB-92 or a CMS 1500. In nearly all cases, insurance companies will refuse to process any invoices that are not recorded on one of these two official claim forms.
When it comes to workers compensation cases, it is especially important that medical providers choose to not send their patients straight to collections if medical bills are not paid in a timely manner. Relying on workers compensation payments can be difficult for everyone, but adding more stress to the situation by involving collections will only make matters worse. Instead, medical providers should cooperate with the workers compensation attorneys on the case by providing them with all the necessary or relevant documentation they will need to help secure appropriate reimbursement for all involved. Any documentation or records of paid and unpaid bills, current balances, and breakdowns of charges that are sent to a workers compensation attorney must be recorded on the correct claims forms. Payment is impossible without the right paperwork, so making sure everything is official and collaborating with the workers compensation attorneys is crucial to ensuring that all medical bills are paid.
The purpose of the new workers compensation fee schedule is to allow the WCA to make a greater impact when it comes to helping hardworking Americans get the workers compensation benefits they deserve. These new rules and fee schedule updates will not only improve the way injured workers receive the medical and financial help they need, but it will also ensure that the reliable healthcare providers responsible for their care receive appropriate compensation as well.
If you or someone you know has been involved in work-related injury and require a professional attorney to assist you in a case, call us at 1.877.732.2491 or complete our free case review form in the sidebar to receive a prompt response from our one of our knowledgeable staff or attorneys.