fee-for-service

noun

fee-for-ser·​vice ˌfē-fər-ˈsər-vəs How to pronounce fee-for-service (audio)
often attributive
: separate payment to a health care provider for each medical service rendered to a patient

Examples of fee-for-service in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Many healthcare organizations are still tied to traditional fee-for-service models, and switching to VBC requires significant investments in new technologies, infrastructure and training. Arpan Saxena, Forbes, 20 Mar. 2025 Today’s fee-for-service system pays clinicians for volume, not value. Robert Pearl, Forbes, 10 Mar. 2025 In Kennedy’s view, Americans are not uniquely beset by a privatized fee-for-service labyrinth characterized by administrative bloat, scant price regulation, a hospital system hollowed out by private equity, and rampant, grotesque greed. Jessica Winter, The New Yorker, 8 Mar. 2025 Hospitals make money from fee-for-service health care. Miles Bryan, Vox, 30 Jan. 2025 See All Example Sentences for fee-for-service

Word History

First Known Use

1945, in the meaning defined above

Time Traveler
The first known use of fee-for-service was in 1945

Browse Nearby Words

Cite this Entry

“Fee-for-service.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/fee-for-service. Accessed 30 Mar. 2025.

Medical Definition

fee-for-service

noun
fee-for-ser·​vice ˌfē-fər-ˈsər-vəs How to pronounce fee-for-service (audio)
: separate payment to a health-care provider for each medical service rendered to a patient
often used attributively
a fee-for-service group plan
Last Updated: - Updated example sentences
Love words? Need even more definitions?

Subscribe to America's largest dictionary and get thousands more definitions and advanced search—ad free!