Key Takeaway
ATIC's functional litigation defense strategy in Compas Med v American Trust Insurance Co case involving fee schedule defenses and CPT code bundling issues.
Compas Med., P.C. v American Tr. Ins. Co., 2017 NY Slip Op 50946(U)(App. Term 2d Dept. 2017)
I had to look through my archives to see what happened here. The verification defense was not addressed nor was the fee schedule defense addressed in the main motions. The defense was suppoted by affidavit and stated the following:
“The basis of the denial is that the billing was in excess of the applicable fee schedule. A provider who administers Muscle Testing (CPT Code 95831) and Range of Motion services (CPT Code 95851), like all other services, must abide by the fee schedule. Plaintiff billed in excess and Defendant is entitled to summary judgment to the extent that the bills were in excess of the fee schedule. ”
“A subsequent fee schedule review was performed by Defendant’s expert coder based upon Plaintiff’s billing, medical records, and supporting documentation. Defendant’s expert review determined that the manual muscle testing codes may not be unbundled. When multiple extremities of muscle testing are performed, compensation is limited to the appropriate bundled code, i.e. CPT Code 95833 (testing, total evaluation without hands), rather than Plaintiff billing multiple times for CPT Code 95851. CPT Code 95833 has a relative value of “13.53” and when it is multiplied by the conversion factor in region IV (where services were performed) “8.45”, this yields the appropriate total fee schedule amount of $114.33.”
“Plaintiff also billed for range of motion testing: CPT Code 95851. As per the Worker’s Compensation fee schedule, compensation is limited to each extremity or each trunk section that is tested. CPT Code 95851 has a relative value of “5.41” and when it is multiplied by the conversion factor in region IV (where services were performed) “8.45”, this yields a fee schedule amount of $45.71 per extremity or trunk section of the spine. Defendant’s coding expert opined that this should be remitted only once per area tested.”
A coding affidavit corroborated these facts and averred that Plaintiff was overpaid.
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Legal Update (February 2026): The fee schedule provisions and bundling rules referenced in this 2017 case may have been significantly modified through subsequent regulatory amendments and updates to the New York No-Fault Fee Schedule. Additionally, conversion factors, relative values, and regional multipliers discussed in the defendant’s expert analysis have likely been adjusted multiple times since publication. Practitioners should verify current fee schedule provisions, bundling requirements, and applicable rates when pursuing similar defenses or claims.
