NCMGM Workers’ Compensation Committee Update

By Cameron M. Cox, Jr., Workers’ Compensation Committee Chair

On Thursday, February 14th, Governor McCrory appointed Commissioner Staci Meyer as Chairman of the North Carolina Industrial Commission, replacing Commissioner Pam Young who resigned as Chairman in January of 2014.  Commissioner Meyer has been extremely helpful in addressing numerous issues related to Workers’ Compensation and has been an advocate and champion of all stakeholders involved.  Although this is good news in many ways, Commissioner Meyer’s current term expires in April so her presence on the Commission remains unclear at this time.  The NC Senate has passed and the House will be considering a bill that would completely remove all six of the currently-sitting members of the Industrial Commission.  Senate Bill 10 will then empower Governor McCrory to nominate 6 brand new Commissioners of his choosing.  The IC is one of many boards and commissions targeted in the bill.

Although the recent increase in certain E&M Codes as well as Physical Medicine codes after over seventeen years was great new, there is much to be done with these codes and others as well as other aspects of claims and payment matters.   According to Conor Brockett, Assistant General Counsel for the NC Medical Society, the Medical Society is planning to join a group of stakeholders this Spring to co-sponsor a study of the physician and hospital fee schedules.  Many of the key details – like the independent consultant doing the work, the timeframe, the precise scope of the project, etc. – have not yet been determined.  As stated by Brockett, the takeaway is that fee schedule conversations will be continuing in 2013 and that there’s broad stakeholder consensus that the State needs to reevaluate how it values the medical care provided to injured workers.  Members of the NCMGM should rest assured that we will be active participants in these efforts.

For more information on the Workers’ Compensation Committee, please contact Cameron Cox, Jr., at CMCox@msochealth.com.