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.
IDR Keeps Making Headlines – For All The Wrong Reasons
In The New York Times, the headline was "Trump Administration Says Surprise Billing Law Is Being 'Gamed' by Doctors." In The Wall Street Journal, it was “Medical Billing Arbitration Paid Out $15 Billion to Providers in Surprise Bill Disputes." In STAT, it was “This...
NYT: “Trump Administration Says Surprise Billing Law Is Being ‘Gamed’ by Doctors”
Just when you thought IDR awards couldn’t be any more outrageous, the latest data released by CMS confirms that the extreme and excessive IDR payouts in 2025 alone have totaled nearly $15 billion – a 275% increase from 2024. IDR abuse is the healthcare affordability...
ICYMI: WSJ: Medical Billing Arbitration Paid Out $15 Billion to Providers in Surprise Bill Disputes
The Wall Street Journal previewed new CMS data that show $15 billion in independent dispute resolution (IDR) awards to out-of-network providers under the No Surprises Act’s federal arbitration process in 2025. The staggering amount — far exceeding the previous...
CASMB Calls on the Trump Administration to Curb Rampant Fraud, Waste, and Abuse Within the No Surprises Act’s Independent Dispute Resolution Process
In a new letter to the Secretaries of the Department of Health and Human Services, the Department of Labor, and the Department of the Treasury, the Coalition Against Surprise Medical Billing (CASMB) urged prompt action on the “systemic cost challenges” stemming from...
Why the NSA Enforcement Act Would Make a $22.4 Billion Cost Problem Worse
Bill would drive more IDR waste, fraud, and abuse harming consumers and employers The No Surprises Act is already protecting millions of Americans from surprise medical bills. While the core patient protections of the law are not at issue, a handful of private...
A Bill About IDR That Ignores Everything About IDR
At a time when the harm of Independent Dispute Resolution (IDR) abuse and misuse to consumers and employers is abundantly clear, the No Surprises Act Enforcement Act (H.R. 4710/S. 2420) ignores every problem with arbitration that policymakers should address. Congress...
New CASMB Ad Campaign Warns No Surprises Act Enforcement Act Rewards the Abuse It Claims to Fix
Washington, D.C. — With employers and consumers already bearing the exorbitant cost of Independent Dispute Resolution (IDR) abuse, the Coalition Against Surprise Medical Billing (CASMB) today launched a six-figure ad campaign to urge policymakers to oppose H.R. 4710,...
ICYMI: Washington Examiner Editorial Board: “Congress must fix its No Surprises mistake”
As out-of-network providers' abuse of the No Surprises Act's independent dispute resolution (IDR) process grows more extreme, costly, and widespread, the urgency for policymakers to act grows with it. The latest editorial from the Washington Examiner says it all: “A...
ICYMI: New York Times: “$22,000 Per Hour: Assistants Use a Legislative Loophole to Outearn Surgeons”
The surgeon who operated on a cancerous prostate gland earned $1,843. The assistant who handed him the instruments earned $50,456. Welcome to arbitration under the No Surprises Act. New York Times reporters Margot Sanger-Katz and Sarah Kliff did another deep dive into...
New CBO Request Is Latest Signal IDR Has Gone Very Wrong
When the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) puts out a public call for new research on the cost impacts of the No Surprises Act, it’s the latest signal that the law’s arbitration process, also known as Independent Dispute Resolution (IDR), has veered far off course. In...