(A) With the exception of the restrictions recited in rule 4123-6-65 of the Administrative Code, and with the exception that no financial arrangement between an employer or QHP and a provider shall reduce the quality of medical care received by an injured worker, an employer or QHP may pay a provider a rate that is the same, is above or is below the rates set forth in the provider fee schedule developed by the bureau pursuant to division (A)(8) of section 4121.441 of the Revised Code, and nothing in the rules pertaining to the QHP system shall be construed to inhibit employers or QHPs and providers in their efforts to privately negotiate a payment rate.
(B) An employee, dissatisfied with the medical services provided by the employer's QHP, may request and shall be granted a change of provider as provided in rule 4123-6-56 of the Administrative Code. The employee's health care shall be managed by the QHP. In such event, the provider shall be reimbursed by the employer or QHP the lessor of the bureau fee schedule or the billed charges by the provider for services rendered, unless an alternate payment arrangement is negotiated between an employer or QHP and the provider.
(C) Employers' financial arrangements with company-based providers remain intact, and services provided by company-based providers need not be billed separately through QHP arrangements.