Hospitals Are Allowing Foreign Governments to Exploit a U.S. Patient Protection Law

When Congress passed the No Surprises Act (NSA), the goal was clear: protect American patients from outrageous surprise medical bills. But less than three years later, the very process designed to shield patients, the Independent Dispute Resolution (IDR) system, has become a profit engine for foreign governments and private equity giants.

According to federal data, Radiology Partners was one of the top initiators of IDR disputes nationwide in 2024. This isn’t your local doctor; it’s a corporate powerhouse backed by a private equity firm, a venture capital fund, and the Australian sovereign wealth fund. In other words, a foreign government is now using a U.S. healthcare arbitration system to extract higher payments from American insurers and, ultimately, from American patients and employers.

They’re not alone. TeamHealth, the number one IDR filer in 2023, is owned by Blackstone, two major Canadian pension funds, and the National Pension Service of Korea. Another major player, Envision Healthcare, was among the top filers in every quarter of 2023. Envision has been owned by private equity giant KKR since 2018 through a fund backed by public pensions from Iceland, Switzerland, and the United Kingdom.

Read more at PJ Media.