fee-for-service

noun

fee-for-ser·​vice ˌfē-fər-ˈsər-vəs 

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

Under Indiana's previous fee-for-service Medicaid system, the state paid providers directly for services Medicaid-eligible Hoosiers used, and those seniors potentially had to navigate multiple systems to get care. —Kayla Dwyer, The Indianapolis Star, 20 Dec. 2024

This year, more than half of all Medicare beneficiaries—some thirty-three million Americans—enrolled in private plans, which, unlike traditional fee-for-service Medicare, often include dental, vision, and hearing coverage. —John Cassidy, The New Yorker, 16 Dec. 2024

For years, physicians operating under the traditional fee-for-service model have sustained their incomes by performing more procedures and charging higher fees. —Robert Pearl, Forbes, 16 Dec. 2024

The biggest obstacle to this vision is the fee-for-service approach Medicare and private insurers use to pay doctors. —Arthur L. Kellermann, Forbes, 11 Dec. 2024

Word History

First Known Use

1945, in the meaning defined above

Medical Definition

fee-for-service

noun

fee-for-ser·​vice ˌfē-fər-ˈsər-vəs 

: separate payment to a health-care provider for each medical service rendered to a patient

—often used attributively

a fee-for-service group plan