NEWS / Legal News - October 2021

Aaron Meland Authors Article for Minnesota Defense on When Fee Scheduling Costs You Money

"Because they have the potential for greater profits based on the fee schedule amount, health care providers may now have more incentive to support an employee's claim for workers' compensation benefits."

In the article, Aaron Meland explains the importance of the 2018 legislative changes to the Minnesota Workers’ Compensation Fee Schedules for employers and workers’ compensation carriers. The old approach to fee scheduling medical bills usually included a discount from the health provider’s actual charge. Now, due to the statutory changes, employers and insurers can be required to pay more than what a health provider charges.

An example Aaron outlined in the article compares the new scheduling to buying a car from a dealership. As regular practice, people do not go into a car dealership expecting to pay more than the asking price for a vehicle on the lot. However, the current version of Minn. Stat. § 176.1364 provides that employers and carriers can be required to pay more than asking price for some medical bills.

Read the full article, go to: Minnesota Defense – “When Fee Scheduling Costs You Money.”

As a litigation attorney, Aaron represents employers, self-insured employers, third-party administrators, and insurers in all aspects of workers’ compensation defense. Please reach out to Aaron if you have any questions or would like clarification on how the 2018 legislative change affects your medical bills. He can be reached at (612) 312-3318 or ameland@aafedt.com. Read more about Aaron here.