In 2020, Congress passed the No Surprises Act to protect medical consumers from surprise bills when they received emergency treatment, only to later discover the doctor did not accept their insurance. The Act established a process by which, rather than bill patients directly, out-of-network doctors and insurers would engage in mandatory arbitration.
Today, the NY Times published a story [paywall link], reporting that, while the system is protecting consumers as intended, it also has led to unintended consequences–chiefly, a much higher number of arbitrations than anticipated and an extremely high rate of wins for providers, often at inflated rates. The article provides some examples of extremely high reimbursements for cosmetic procedures, and provides anecdotal explanations as to why arbitrators are consistently ruling on behalf of doctors.
