NH House Passes Reasonable Fee Requirement for Medical Providers

This week the New Hampshire House passed a bill that states that the fees medical providers charge must be “reasonable”. Senate Bill 133 repeals the entirety of RSA 281-A:24, I and replaces it with a requirement that a workers’ compensation carrier pay the “reasonable value of medical services provided under this chapter.” If passed by the Senate and signed into law, the bill would shift the burden of proof to the medical providers to establish that a bill for services is reasonable. This burden shifting is a substantial change from the current text of RSA 281-A:24, I, which currently requires insurance carriers to “show just cause as to why the total amount [of a bill] should not be paid.”