The Perils of Government-Mandated Arbitration
Protecting patients from surprise bills requires us to address the market failure that drives the problem in the first place. Arbitration is a failed remedy that will incentivize exorbitant charges moving forward. Learn more about why arbitration will continue to lead to sky-high charges from out-of-network providers and higher premiums for all of us.
ICYMI: Employers Warn IDR Abuse Is A Major Affordability Problem
Extreme and inflationary independent dispute resolution (IDR) awards are forcing employers to pay more for healthcare, according to a new analysis from The ERISA Industry Committee (ERIC). This latest report underscores how far the No Surprises Act’s IDR process has...
$+22 Billion in Added Costs, and Growing Consensus That Congress Must Act on IDR
Certain out-of-network providers’ abuse and misuse of arbitration have become a $22 billion affordability crisis, according to recent government data analyzed by Georgetown researchers. Excessive independent dispute resolution (IDR) costs have translated directly into...
Latest Paragon Analysis Strengthens the Case for IDR Reform
A new Paragon Health Institute analysis urges Congress to reform IDR and address the misaligned incentives driving up costs for employers and consumers. The paper builds on mounting evidence of excessive arbitration awards and limited oversight, citing an estimated...
ICYMI: How Arbitration Blew a $40 Million Hole in San Antonio’s Budget
The city of San Antonio is $40 million over its employee healthcare budget this year following costly misuse and abuse of the independent dispute resolution (IDR) process by a handful of out-of-network providers. New reporting from the San Antonio Express-News details...
IDR Is Now A +$22.4 Billion Problem
Untenable and unsustainable IDR costs are driving up premiums for employers and employees, and new data from researchers at Georgetown University uncovers how out-of-network providers’ abuse and misuse of arbitration has become a $22 billion affordability crisis....
ICYMI: Mercer: “On the Hill, Employers Sound the Alarm on IDR”
Abuse of the No Surprises Act’s independent dispute resolution (IDR) process by certain private equity-backed providers and IDR firms continues to drive up premium costs for employers, unions, and workers. POLITICO recently reported that one national health insurer is...
ICYMI: New York Times Lays Out Why Arbitration Works for Baseball but Not for Healthcare
When Congress wrote the No Surprises Act, it borrowed its arbitration model from Major League Baseball. A new analysis from the New York Times lays out how that system has failed in healthcare. More than 2.5 million disputes went to arbitration last year, compared...
Niskanen Center: “New data, same problem: No Surprises Act arbitration abuse persists”
IDR abuse is accelerating. That's the takeaway from a new analysis by the Niskanen Center, which dug into CMS's latest data on the No Surprises Act's arbitration process, covering the second half of 2025. Disputes are up nearly 75% year-over-year, providers are still...
IDR Is a Gold Rush for Certain Private Equity-Backed Providers. Independent Physicians Are Getting Squeezed.
Last month, the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office (CBO) issued a rare warning: the intended cost savings for employers and employees under the No Surprises Act are in jeopardy because the law's dispute backstop, the Independent Dispute Resolution (IDR) process,...
ICYMI: STAT: “How a hospital operator used the No Surprises Act to fuel a stunning financial turnaround”
STAT's Tara Bannow recently published an investigation into Nutex Health, a hospital operator whose financial turnaround from near bankruptcy has been fueled by abusing the No Surprises Act's arbitration process. Her reporting builds on the growing body of evidence...