Stop Surprise Medical Bills
Despite the success of the No Surprises Act, certain private equity-backed providers and arbitration middlemen are systematically manipulating the law’s arbitration process—known as independent dispute resolution (IDR)—to extract maximum payments from employers and patients. This ongoing misuse and abuse of the process—continued surges in arbitration filings, sky-high final payments that overwhelmingly favor providers, and growing use of third-party IDR firms—is raising alarms about the consequences for consumer premiums and health care affordability.
Our Mission
Members of the Coalition Against Surprise Medical Billing, which represent accountable care providers, leading employer groups, and health insurance providers and the tens of millions of people they employ and serve each day, support meaningful solutions to end surprise medical billing that would:
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- Protect patients and families from surprise medical bills sent by out-of-network providers;
- Maintain fair and equitable payments for providers with a benchmark standard based on local, competitive market-based rates; and
- Help reduce consumers’ health insurance premiums and taxpayers’ costs by avoiding an arbitration process that adds unnecessary cost, delay, and bureaucracy to the health system, and is particularly harmful for smaller companies.
The Problem
Surprise medical billing—also known as “balance billing”—made it harder for patients to afford necessary medical care, often when they least expected it. Now, with patient protections in place, certain private equity-backed providers and profit-enhancing middlemen are using the arbitration process as a business model to extract profits. This aggressive, profit-driven use of the arbitration process not only inflates costs, but it also undermines the intended goals of the No Surprises Act: to make care more affordable and accessible for patients.
Role of Private Equity
The growing presence of private equity-backed providers is becoming an all too common influence in the health system—and one of the leading drivers behind egregious surprise medical bills that bankrupt families across the country. Out-of-network providers backed by private equity firms continue to exploit a market loophole that allow them to charge exorbitant rates at patients’ expense. Click Learn More below to view the Coalition’s latest advertising on the harmful tactics from private equity firms and why this practice needs to stop for good.
The Solution
Everyone in America deserves affordable, high-quality health coverage and care. Surprise medical bills undermine that promise, threatening the health and financial stability of millions of patients each year. Together, we must ensure patients are protected from excessive costs and empowered to make informed choices.
News
CASMB Statement on the Haller Case
Washington, D.C. – The Coalition Against Surprise Medical Billing, a diverse group of health care leaders working together to protect patients from surprise bills and to lower health care costs, is pleased to share that yesterday a New York federal court dismissed a...
Part 4: Patients, Consumers, Unions, and Employers Urge the Administration to Defend the No Surprises Act
For the finale of our blog series, we are highlighting a recent letter signed by nearly 70 organizations representing patients, consumers, unions, and employers reinforcing the essential nature of the No Surprises Act. The diverse groups have been sending joint...
Part 3: The Role of Private Equity and Air Ambulance Companies
The Coalition Against Surprise Medical Billing continues its four-part blog series to provide a deeper analysis of everything you need to know about the No Surprises Act. In our third blog of the series, we explain the role of some private-equity firms in exploiting...
Take Action
Tell Washington it’s time to protect patients from surprise and unfair medical bills.

