Bill > S0286

This bill amends South Carolina's workers' compensation law to give the Workers' Compensation Commission more comprehensive authority to establish and manage medical fee schedules. The bill allows the commission to create detailed fee schedules for medical practitioners (excluding hospital inpatient and outpatient services), with the goal of ensuring quality medical care for injured workers while controlling system costs. The commission can now use various reimbursement methodologies, including applying multiple conversion factors to a relative value scale calculation, and may retain experts to help develop these schedules. The bill requires the commission to conduct an annual review of the fee schedules, taking into account factors such as the medical consumer price index and fee schedules from neighboring states. If the commission proposes to increase or decrease fees by more than 10%, it must hold an evidentiary hearing, and any significant changes are subject to expedited review by the Administrative Law Court. The bill also maintains existing provisions that prohibit unauthorized fees and require commission approval for attorney and physician charges related to workers' compensation claims, with potential misdemeanor penalties for violations.

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https://www.scstatehouse.gov/billsearch.php?billnumbers=0286&session=126&summary=B