Today’s issue of WorkCompRecap features the release of the second edition of WCRI’s Hospital Outpatient Cost Index for Workers’ Compensation. According to WCRI, rising hospital costs have been a focus of recent policy debates in many states, and the new edition of the Index will help stakeholders compare hospital outpatient costs across states, identify potential key cost drivers, and monitor the impact of reforms.
Key findings from the report included that states with hospital outpatient fee regulations based on a percent of charges had higher costs compared with states with “fixed-amount” fee schedules. For example, “percent of charges” study states Florida, Louisiana, Minnesota, and North Carolina showed hospital outpatient costs 61 to 91 percent higher than the median of the study states with “fixed-amount” fee schedules.
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