Washington, D.C., February 9, 2026– On Friday, The ERISA Industry Committee (ERIC) filed an amicus brief with the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California in Anthem Blue Cross Life and Health Insurance Company v. HaloMD LLC (Anthem). The brief urges the Court to allow the plaintiff’s case to proceed by rejecting the defendant’s motion to dismiss.
In 2020, when President Trump signed the No Surprises Act (NSA) into law, it was believed that families would be protected from financial ruin caused by nearly unavoidable surprise medical bills. A 2025 Health Affairs article found that the NSA reduced surprise medical bills, but its independent dispute resolution (IDR) process creates new costs through inflated payments to some out-of-network providers. From 2022 through the end of 2024, the IDR process generated at least $5 billion in total costs, with 610,000 cases filed in just the first half of 2024.
“The IDR system was meant to be used rarely, but it has been turned into a profit engine that drives inflated arbitration awards along with higher premiums and cost-sharing for workers and their families,” said Tom Christina, Executive Director of the ERIC Legal Center. “At a time when they can least afford it, employers and their workers are footing the bill for this abuse. Letting this case move forward gives the court a chance to stop the abuse and give working families the relief Congress intended.”
The suit, which was filed in July 2025, alleges the defendants illegally exploited the IDR system by overwhelming the IDR process with hundreds of disputes they knew were ineligible, resulting in millions of dollars in improperly obtained awards. Plaintiffs’ claims include violations of the Employee Retirement Security Act (ERISA), federal Racketeering Influenced and Corrupt Organizations (“RICO”) Act, California’s Unfair Competition Law, and common law fraud.
ERIC was joined by the American Benefits Council and Business Group on Health on the brief. Groom Law Group prepared the amicus brief, which is available here.