Former New Jersey Governor Chris Christie

Lawyers on “both sides of the v.” in Nebraska like to grumble about rules and regulations imposed by the workers’ compensation court.

But ideally rules make the workers’ compensation claims process easier. A good example of the benefit of some bureaucracy in workers’ compensation would be the fee schedule for medical bills required by statute and developed by the court on an annual basis. In simple terms, the fee schedule determines what an employer/insurer is required to pay for medical services in a workers’ compensation claim. The fee schedule eliminates disputes over what constitutes a  fair and reasonable charges in a Nebraska workers compensation case and in many  other states.

Contrast this with New Jersey, a state that doesn’t have a fee schedule in workers’ compensation. In New Jersey courts must determine fair and reasonable charge on a case by case basis. In fact, thanks to a reform put in place by former Governor New Jersey Governor Chris Christie, nearly 20 percent of workers’ compensation cases filed in New Jersey involve disputes between medical providers and insurers/claims administrators over medical charges.

One leading New Jersey workers’ compensation defense firm predicted, almost gleefully, that soon 1/3^rd of workers’ compensation cases in the Garden State will involve cases between medical providers and insurers/claims administrators over medical charge. I hate to sound cynical, but as work injuries continue to decline, workers’ compensation defense lawyers can grind billable hours in what amount to commercial disputes between doctors and insurance companies .

Putting aside jibes at the defense bar, a lack of a fee schedule means more time and expense proving up what is a fair and reasonable charge versus spending that time and expense on proving compensability and nature and extent of disability. Plaintiffs who aren’t being paid benefits or receiving medical care have to wait for a court date while doctors and insurers spend court time arguing whether an insurer has to pay $.73 on the dollar for a procedure or $.87 on the dollar for a procedure. (By the way the decision in that case was 21 pages single space in a small font.)

Uncertainty over reimbursement for workers’ compensation services would also discourage medical providers for treating workers’ compensation patients. In my experience a mutually agreed upon fee schedule for medical charges for workers’ compensation claims greatly simplifies workers’ compensation cases. An administrative solution on medical costs in workers’ compensation is much better than litigating the issue on a case by case basis.