14. Department of Health and Human Services · Notable · Needs Congress
Scrap the No Surprises Act dispute resolution process
Printed page 469 14. Department of Health and Human Services
“The No Surprises Act should scrap the dispute resolution process in favor of a truth-in-advertising approach that will protect consumers and free doctors, insurers, and arbiters from confused and conflicting standards for resolving disputes that the disputing parties can best resolve themselves.”
What has happened
- Not started
The independent dispute resolution process was not scrapped; it was entrenched. Treasury, Labor, HHS and OPM finalized the Federal Independent Dispute Resolution Operations rule (effective 2026-08-03), which adds disclosure duties on plans and issuers and standardizes the claim information that feeds the IDR process, and a correction followed on 2026-08-28. The two No Surprises Act bills of the 119th Congress would strengthen enforcement of the Act rather than repeal the arbitration scheme, and both are in committee.
Research log
What was searched, and what didn’t count as evidence
Research notes
- Queries: Federal Register “Independent Dispute Resolution” since 2025-01-20 → 10 documents (the final rule and its correction, an information-collection notice for the IDR process, the 2027 Payment Notice and its proposal, the regulatory agendas); among the bills we keep and search, from congress.gov, titles matching “No Surprises” → 2 companion enforcement bills plus two unrelated CRA resolutions, all referred.
- The Quote’s alternative — a “truth-in-advertising approach” — appears nowhere in the record.
- Action
- eliminate
- Object
- No Surprises Act independent dispute resolution process
- ID
- 1289