Copy Fees in Work Comp

If you have treated work injuries in your practice, you have probably received subpoenas commanding you to provide medical records.  Each was probably accompanied by an attorney’s check in the "generous” sum of $20, regardless of the number of pages in the record.  In some cases, your office staff may have spent hours reproducing multi-page paper records or x-rays, all for a flat fee of $20.  As an ICS member, you know that you are entitled to payment for medical records at a higher rate in non-workers’ compensation cases.  If you have ever wondered why this disparity exists, read on.  In addition, this issue will inform ICS members about a recent appellate court case that may provide an avenue to legitimately negotiate fairer fees for medical records in workers’ compensation cases. 

 The general rule for medical record copy fees is found in the Illinois civil procedure law (735 ILCS 5/8-2006) and published every year by the State Comptroller at www.ioc.state.il.us .  It requires that providers be paid a flat handling fee and per page charges, to be adjusted each year based on inflation. In 2011 the handling fee is $24.81 and the per page charge is $.93 for the first 25 pages, clearly a more reasonable reimbursement schedule than the customary flat $20 fee in workers’ compensation cases (see ICS website for more information on the civil fee schedule).