NEW RULES FOR MEDICAL FEE SCHEDULES AND LUMP SUM SETTLEMENT APPLICATIONS IN NEBRASKA

Recently, on December 28, 2023, the Nebraska Workers’ Compensation Court adopted amendments to Rules 5, 13, 14, 15, 26, 47, and Addendum 2. By January 24, 2024, all of these changes took effect. The amendments to Rules 5, 13, 14, and 15 included minor updates regarding interpreters, fax filings, exhibits, and records checked out.

However, the two most significant changes involved Rules 26 and 47. First, the amendment to Rule 26 affected the Medical Services Fee Schedule. For medical services provided on or after January 1, 2024, a new Medical Services Fee Schedule is in effect. The updated schedule can be found on the Nebraska Workers’ Compensation Court’s website at newcc.gov.

Second, the amendment to Rule 47 affected Lump Sum Settlement Applications by changing the table in Addendum 2. The 2019 U.S. Life Expectancy Table in Addendum 2 was replaced with the new 2020 U.S. Life Expectancy Table.

The updated 2020 U.S. Life Expectancy Table contains only minor changes from the 2019 table, but when dealing with future and present values, even minor changes can have a significant impact.

This post was drafted by Faith Kowalski, a law clerk at Baylor Evnen. If you have questions regarding these rule changes, please call Paul Barta or Micah Hawker-Boehnke at 402-475-1075.