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.

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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