No Surprises Act Yields More Than 330,000 Billing Disputes

More than 330,000 payment disputes over out-of-network health-care claims were initiated in the first year the process was started under the No Surprises Act, nearly 14 times what agencies had estimated would be filed.

Arbitrators made payment determinations in more than 42,000 disputes initiated between April 15, 2022, and March 31, 2023, and the entities that initiated the dispute process prevailed in 71% of the disputes, according to a report released Thursday by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid.

The mushrooming volume of payment disputes between medical providers and insurers doesn’t bode well for implementation of the No ...