Source: Niskanen Center
by Lawson Mansell & Caitlin Rowley Gallamore
“The federal Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) last week released No Surprises Act (NSA) payment data for the last half of 2025, providing the public’s first complete look at how the law performed on important cost indicators over the last full calendar year. The data reveal troubling patterns: the volume of billing disputes between medical providers and insurers continues to climb, arbitration awards keep speeding past benchmarks Congress established in the law, and the program itself now costs nearly $3 billion a year. Without reform, patients will continue to bear these costs — not through the surprise bills the law was designed to eliminate, but through the higher premiums and slower wage growth that follow when insurers pass their higher costs to customers.” (07/30/26)
https://www.niskanencenter.org/new-data-same-problem-no-surprises-act-arbitration-abuse-persists