Colorado New Workers’ Comp Law and PPOs
Letters are now going out from PPOs to their payor clients requesting their help to comply with the new workers’ compensation Colorado law (Senate Bill 79). In these letters work comp PPOs are requesting the following information from their payor clients: (1) where should doctors send the bills (2) where to call for inquiries. The real difficulty in the law is that the injured worker has to present the above information to the medical provider at the first visit.
It is somewhat easy for the PPO to comply with these requirements for direct clients. Yet, it is much more difficult when a reseller such as a medical bill review company is the client of the PPO. For PPOs to follow this law, it is going to take the help of the medical bill review companies and their clients.
This state law, as in so many, once again shows the limited understanding legislatures have of the various layers of workers’ compensation cost containment.
December 7th, 2007 at 10:40 am
Colorado is just a precursor of steps that may be taken by other states around the country. We have had states toying with the idea of requiring ID cards for work comp patients for years. It is possible, but not without adding an administrative burden (and cost) on the entire industry. Not to mention that inevitably, patients will be harmed in the effort to require ID cards for these type patients.
What are Hospitals and providers to do with a patient that presents without such identification? Are they willing and ready to accept the risk and liability that will come with turning away a patient without proper ID? Are they prepared to accept the litigation that results from such patients? Or, the more likely scenario, is that they have not given these factors any thought at all. Like those legislators that the conned into promoting such legislation, they have not thought out the inevitable consequences of their actions.
In rush the lawyers to reap the rewards for the new wave of litigation that will begin because of this new law in Colorado. In the end, the lawyers will be the death of us all!