No Surprises disputes increasing even as arbiters catch up, CMS says

Healthcare DIVE January 26, 2026
Rebecca Pifer Parduhn

The agency released new data on independent dispute resolution in the first half of 2025. Roughly 1.2 million cases were filed in that period, mostly by the same private equity-backed providers.

Dive Brief:

• Providers and health insurers submitted almost 1.2 million cases to a federal portal meant to resolve disputes over surprise medical bills in the first half of 2025 — almost 40% more than in the last six months of 2024, according to new data from the CMS.
• Arbiters are handling the rising volume while cutting into the existing backlog, processing more than 1.3 million disputes in the first half of the year, the CMS said. That’s up almost 50% from the prior six months.
• Still, despite faster...

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