A group of more than 60 health care payers, employer groups, and others have written to the departments of Health and Human Services, Labor, and the Treasury to protest how the Independent Dispute Resolution process created under the No Surprises Act is deciding pay disputes between providers and insurers.

The letter accuses payers of using the Independent Dispute Resolution process as a money-making tool.  It also maintains that the panels deciding the disputes are favoring providers – which are winning 85 percent of the cases they consider – and are operating without sufficient guidance from federal regulators.  It also notes in 2024, that three quarters of the disputes that came up for review were filed by just four provider groups and that the process as a whole is being used far more often than its creators anticipated.

Federal efforts to provide more guidance for the dispute review panels were tied up in the courts for a time and are now under review by the Office of Management and Budget.

Learn more about why some groups are unhappy with how the No Surprises Act is being implemented from the Becker’s Payer Issues article “Payers, employers urge federal action on No Surprises arbitration ‘manipulation,’” which includes a link to the letter the groups sent to federal officials.