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

Efforts to move health care away from fee-for-service models and to encourage greater efficiencies had mixed results at best. — Dana P. Goldman, STAT, 22 Oct. 2026

Payments will come out of the Medicare Improvement Fund created by Congress in 2008 and intended to make improvements to the Medicare fee-for-service program. — ABC News, 7 Oct. 2026

The payments are funded by the Medicare Improvement Fund, which was set up by Congress to improve and support the original Medicare fee-for-service program. — Megan Cerullo, CBS News, 6 Oct. 2026

Operating in both fee-for-service and value-based models at the same time can add another layer of administrative complexity. — Aric Coffman, Forbes.com, 23 Sep. 2026

Word History

First Known Use

1945, in the meaning defined above

Rhymes for fee-for-service

• interservice
• disservice
• preservice
• nervous
• nervus

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