Important Fee Schedule Deadlines For Employers to Remember Under Neb. Rev. Stat. § 48-125.02
Neb. Rev. Stat. § 48-125.02 sets forth certain deadlines employers and workers’ compensation carriers must adhere to in order to benefit from the fee schedule of the Nebraska Workers’ Compensation Court. Specifically, it provides once a bill is received, the workers’ compensation insurer, risk management pool, or self insured employer shall notify the provider within fifteen business days as to what additional information is needed to process the bill. Once all the necessary information is received, the bill must be paid within thirty days. Failure to notify the provider within fifteen days that additional information is needed results in a waiver and the payor must pay the billed amount within thirty days of when the bill was received. Failure to pay the bill within thirty days results in a waiver of any benefit the payor may have received pursuant to the fee schedule and, instead, the bill must be paid in the full-billed amount.
It is important for employers to remember that a company liable for workers’ compensation medical bills cannot take a wait and see approach before paying an employee’s medical bill. Once it has notice of a billed amount, it is incumbent upon the company/payor to get the information it needs to pay that bill and the request for this information must be made within fifteen business days. Failure to request this information on a timely basis and failure to issue payment for the bill within thirty days of receipt may lead to a loss of any reduction in liability pursuant to the fee schedule.
For more information regarding fee schedule deadlines under the Nebraska Workers’ Compensation Act, please contact Darla Ideus or Robert Seybert at dideus@baylorevnen.com or rseybert@baylorevnen.com or (402) 475-1075.