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- CMS Partially Reopens Independent Dispute Resolution Process Portal
The Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) partially reopened its independent dispute resolution (IDR) portal to resume initiation of certain new single and bundled (but not batched) disputes on October 6. Processing of both in-progress and new batched disputes remain temporarily suspended while the government works to create guidance and operations that align with recent court orders.
The Texas Medical Association had sued CMS over several aspects of the No Surprises Act. In August, CMS suspended the IDR process after a federal court judge ruled in favor of the association. The judge found that CMS did not follow processes to increase fees and ruled that the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), jointly with the departments of Labor and the Treasury cannot impose a substantial fee change without notice and comment rulemaking. The CAP has advocated to both Congress and CMS about concerns over the fees and other issues with the IDR process. On September 20, the departments proposed a new fee structure for the federal IDR process. This proposal would amend existing regulations for the IDR fees charged for single and batched determinations. The CAP will submit comments in response to the proposal by the October 26 deadline.
Read more at the CMS’s No Suprises Act webpage and visit their new FAQ page here. For more information from the CAP, visit our webpage here.