Description

The federal government has finalized the most consequential rewrite of the No Surprises Act's Independent Dispute Resolution (IDR) process since the law took effect, and organizations that treat this as business as usual are exposing themselves to violations they may not even know they are committing. The final rule, issued May 28, 2026, makes registration in the Federal IDR Portal mandatory, requires arbitration registration numbers in initial payment notices, imposes standardized billing codes in remittance advice, and rewrites the open negotiation, eligibility review, and batching rules from the ground up.

The stakes cut both ways. A new 50-line-item cap on batched disputes, expanded batching categories, and a cooling-off period slashed from 90 calendar days to 30 business days will force providers and payers alike to rethink filing strategy. Meanwhile, the per-party administrative fee has dropped from $115 to just $15, an 87% reduction that removes the financial barrier to initiating disputes and is expected to trigger a surge in filings. If your organization is not prepared for that volume, or is still relying on proprietary portal submissions that the rule now prohibits, you are already behind.

In this 60-minute session, a healthcare litigator with first-hand experience in first-impression No Surprises Act cases will walk through every major requirement of the final rule, the compliance timelines, the enhanced oversight and decertification framework for certified IDR entities, and the unresolved legal questions, including the en banc Fifth Circuit litigation over QPA calculation methodology, that every administrator, compliance officer, auditor, and executive team must factor into 2026 planning. Attendees who skip this update will be reading about these requirements for the first time in an enforcement letter.

After this webinar attendees will be able to answer-

• Why did federal regulators overhaul the IDR process in the May 2026 final rule, and which failures of the 2022 framework is it designed to fix?
• What must now appear in initial payment notices, and what is your exposure if arbitration registration numbers are missing?
• Is your organization registered in the Federal IDR Portal, and do you understand that failure to register is itself a compliance violation?
• How do the new 50-line-item cap, expanded batching categories, and the shortened cooling-off period (from 90 calendar days to 30 business days) change your dispute strategy?
• What do the standardized CARC and RARC requirements for remittance advice mean for your payer communications and audit trail?
• How will the 87% administrative fee reduction, from $115 to $15 per party, drive up dispute volume, and is your team staffed and structured to respond?
• What new oversight, corrective action, and decertification risks now apply to certified IDR entities?
• Which legal questions, including the pending Fifth Circuit litigation on QPA methodology, remain unresolved, and how should your compliance program plan around that uncertainty?

This webinar benefits the following agencies-

• Hospitals and Health Systems
• Physician Groups and Specialty Practices (Anesthesiology, Radiology, Pathology, Emergency Medicine)
• Health Plans and Insurance Issuers
• Third-Party Administrators (TPAs)
• Revenue Cycle Management and Medical Billing Companies
• Self-Funded Employer Health Plans
• Air Ambulance Operators
• Certified IDR Entities
• Healthcare Law Firms and Consulting Practices

Who should attend?

• Hospital and Health System Administrators
• Physician Group and Practice Administrators
• Chief Compliance Officers and Compliance Officers
• Internal Auditors and Revenue Integrity Auditors
• C-Suite Executives (CEOs, CFOs, COOs, General Counsel)
• Health Plan and TPA Compliance Leadership
• Managed Care Contracting Executives