Trump Administration Ousts 2 Arbitration Firms as Doctors Win 85% of Surprise-Billing Cases
Updated
Updated · The New York Times · Nov 4
Trump Administration Ousts 2 Arbitration Firms as Doctors Win 85% of Surprise-Billing Cases
1 articles · Updated · The New York Times · Nov 4
Summary
Two arbitration firms that handle No Surprises Act billing disputes are set to lose their federal contracts, marking the administration’s first direct move against a system criticized for rich doctor awards.
More than 85% of 2025 cases went to doctors, federal data shows, after providers flooded the process with millions of claims that lawmakers had expected would be used only sparingly.
Awards in some disputes ran far above typical insurer rates, including $440,000 for breast-reduction surgeries at a New York plastic surgery practice and $106,500 for a New Jersey surgical assistant.
Seventeen firms now process the cases, charging $425 to $800 per dispute and collecting a combined $742 million from 2022 through 2025, while outcomes vary sharply across arbitrators.
The 2020 law, effective in 2022, was designed to shield patients from out-of-network surprise bills by forcing insurers and providers either to agree on a price or submit competing offers to arbitration.