News

A new working paper from the National Bureau of Economic Research finds that the No Surprises Act’s arbitration process is incentivizing providers to go out-of-network and driving higher premiums. The economists estimate that the undue costs of the independent dispute...

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...

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...

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...

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...

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....

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...

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...

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...