FAIR Health Selected to Help Kentucky Update Its Workers' Compensation Fee Schedule

Third Cycle of Collaboration between FAIR Health and Kentucky

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Mar 26, 2018, 06:51 ET

NEW YORK, March 26, 2018 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Pursuant to a competitive bidding process, the Commonwealth of Kentucky chose FAIR Health to help analyze, revise and update its workers' compensation fee schedule, FAIR Health announced today. FAIR Health, a national, independent, nonprofit organization dedicated to bringing transparency to healthcare costs and health insurance information, will work closely with Kentucky to update the ground rules and rate tables for the workers' compensation fee schedule for physicians, including medical, anesthesia, transportation, HCPCS and dental procedures.

The fee schedule will be informed by data from FAIR Health's repository of billions of privately billed claims, the largest such collection in the country. FAIR Health also will assist Kentucky officials from the Department of Workers' Claims in presenting the fee schedule to workers' compensation stakeholders before finalization.

The new contract marks the third time FAIR Health will be supporting Kentucky in updating its workers' compensation fee schedule. FAIR Health was awarded the contracts for these services for Kentucky's two prior fee schedules (released in 2013 and 2016), also as a result of competitive bidding processes.

FAIR Health President Robin Gelburd stated: "We are pleased to assist again the Commonwealth of Kentucky and its Department of Workers' Claims in their efforts to maintain a current, geographically relevant and comprehensive fee schedule that continues to meet the needs of injured workers and all stakeholders. Our experience shows us that states are best served by a fee schedule that is specific to the needs of their jurisdiction and developed using data that have been validated by an independent, neutral organization to satisfy the interests of all parties."

FAIR Health is working with and in discussions with a number of states relating to the development of their workers' compensation fee schedules. For example, FAIR Health also is assisting Georgia with its upcoming fee schedule, which will be effective April 1. Our data are not only the basis for fee schedules in some states, but also serve as a primary data source for private companies that process workers' compensation claims in the absence of a state fee schedule. In addition, FAIR Health data are referenced in statutes, regulations and official memoranda around the country as the designated source of cost information for a variety of state health programs.

About FAIR Health

FAIR Health is a national, independent, nonprofit organization dedicated to bringing transparency to healthcare costs and health insurance information through data products, consumer resources and health systems research support. FAIR Health possesses the nation's largest collection of private healthcare claims data, which includes over 25 billion claim records contributed by payors and administrators who insure or process claims for private insurance plans covering more than 150 million individuals. FAIR Health also holds separate data representing the experience of more than 55 million individuals enrolled in Medicare. Certified by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) as a Qualified Entity, FAIR Health receives all of Medicare Parts A, B and D claims data for use in nationwide transparency efforts. FAIR Health licenses its privately billed data and data products—including benchmark modules, data visualizations, custom analytics, episodes of care analytics and market indices—to commercial insurers and self-insurers, employers, hospitals and healthcare systems, government agencies, researchers and others. FAIR Health has earned HITRUST CSF and Service Organization Controls (SOC 2) certifications by meeting the rigorous data security standards of those organizations. As a testament to the reliability and objectivity of FAIR Health data, the data have been incorporated in statutes and regulations around the country and designated as the official, neutral data source for a variety of state health programs, including workers' compensation and personal injury protection (PIP) programs. FAIR Health data serve as an official reference point in support of certain state balance billing laws that protect consumers against bills for surprise out-of-network and emergency services. FAIR Health also uses its database to power a free consumer website available in English and Spanish and an English/Spanish mobile app, which enable consumers to estimate and plan their healthcare expenditures and offer a rich educational platform on health insurance. The website has been honored by the White House Summit on Smart Disclosure, the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ), URAC, the eHealthcare Leadership Awards, appPicker, Employee Benefit News and Kiplinger's Personal Finance. FAIR Health also is named a top resource for patients in Elisabeth Rosenthal's book, An American Sickness: How Healthcare Became Big Business and How You Can Take It Back. For more information on FAIR Health, visit fairhealth.org.

Contact:
Dean Sicoli
Executive Director of Communications and Public Relations
FAIR Health
646-664-1645
[email protected]

SOURCE FAIR Health