Joseph Rugg's Health Law Blog

A new study released Thursday, July 19, 2012, gives more ammunition to Florida business owners trying to get state legislators to close a legal loophole that they say allows physicians to gouge them when treating injured workers.

The ABC Action News I-Team exposed the problem — and the political money that appears to be keeping the loophole wide open — in a report last February. A bill designed to close the loophole died again during this year’s legislative session in Tallahassee.

The new study by the Workers Compensation Research Institute found that 62 percent of all prescription drug spending in Florida for injured workers was paid to physicians who dispensed medications from their offices — not to pharmacies, which typically charge much less for the same pills.

The cost discrepancy hits employers who must pay physicians the higher prices. Critics of the loophole say the larger workers compensation premiums may limit the ability of Florida employers to hire more workers to boost the state’s sluggish economy.

See on abcactionnews.com.

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