Guidance from South Carolina Workers’ Compensation Commission on Completion of Form 19

Written by: Margaret “Meg” H. Donahue, Esq.

On March 23, 2022 The SC Workers’ Compensation Commission issued this advisory notice clarifying information to be included on the Form 19 at the close of a claim. The Commission has determined that expenses that are not specifically medical care and treatment are being included on Line 6, Total Medical Benefits Paid. The Commission requests that only costs for actual medical products and services be included on this line, for example: physician fees, prescriptions, surgery, durable medical equipment.

The Commission lists a number of claim expenses that they have seen included on Line 6 with medical expenses that are not care and treatment expenses. One we most often gets questions about are fees for nurse case management services. These service fees are not considered medical benefits by the Commission, but a cost of managing the claim, and should not be included on the Form 19 as medical expenses. The Commission uses the Form 19 to track medical care and treatment costs in claims and, therefore, wants the information specifically limited to actual treatment costs.

See the full advisory notice here: https://hallboothsmith.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/03/Advisory-Notice-Form-19-Mar-23-2023.pdf