CMS reopens No Surprises Act dispute resolution portal for certain new disputes

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services Oct. 6 reopened the No Surprises Act’s Independent Dispute Resolution portal to out-of-network providers and group health plans initiating new single payment disputes under the No Surprises Act’s independent dispute resolution process, including single disputes involving bundled payment arrangements. The agency also released new guidance for processing these disputes.
 
New and in-progress batched disputes and new air ambulance disputes remain temporarily suspended while the departments of Health and Human Services, Labor and the Treasury update their guidance and operations to align with recent court orders, including an Aug. 24 ruling that set aside certain regulations implementing the IDR process and an Aug. 3 ruling that vacated nationwide a federal fee increase and batching rule for the process.