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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.
The non-profit recognized that the traditional fee-for-service system, which pays providers for the number of hours billed rather than outcomes achieved, was driving costs upward without necessarily improving quality of life. CBS News, 19 Nov. 2025 Look no further than the city’s current transition to fee-for-service trash pickup. Michael Zucchet, San Diego Union-Tribune, 6 Nov. 2025 Most kept their small, siloed offices, accepting fee-for-service payments that rewarded volume over outcomes. Robert Pearl, Twin Cities, 2 Nov. 2025 Jacobs challenges the fee-for-service paradigm and champions a system where long-term relationships between patients and providers are the foundation of care for all Americans, delivering high-quality results with the goal of improving health, not simply treating illness. Forbes Books Press Release Official, Forbes.com, 9 Sep. 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 2 Dec. 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
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