Reimbursement

Workers’ Compensation provides insurance to employers to provide benefits and care to employees injured on the job and benefits to families of those killed on the job. Like Medicaid, Workers’ Compensation, also known as industrial insurance, is administered by each state and, likewise, each state determines its own rules regarding PA reimbursement and scope of practice.

Nearly all private payers reimburse for services provided by PAs; however, insurers may have different policies regarding how PAs are credentialed, what services PAs may provide, and how services provided by PAs should be billed. In general, when state laws are followed, insurance plans cover PAs providing medically necessary services that are within the scope of PA practice.

Medicare is a government-administered program providing health insurance to 43 million Americans. The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) implements laws and establishes policies affecting Medicare and contracts with health care professionals to process Medicare claims.

Medicaid is a program whereby federal and state governments share the cost of providing approximately 58 million needy Americans with health care coverage. To qualify for the program, states must include hospital services, prevention services, skilled nursing and home health care coverage for adults, and prevention and treatment services for children.

Unlike Medicare, Medicaid has a state funding component, and allows each state to write its own rules for medical coverage. Therefore, every state may define PA scope of practice and reimbursement rules.