{
  "dataset": "Federal IDR disputes initiated and closed, by two-month period, December 2025 to September 2026",
  "period": {
    "start": "2025-12-01",
    "end": "2026-09-30",
    "label": "Dec 2025 – Sep 2026"
  },
  "source": {
    "publisher": "U.S. Departments of Health and Human Services, Labor, and the Treasury",
    "document": "Federal IDR bi-monthly reports, as of January 31, March 31, May 31, July 31 and September 30, 2026",
    "sourceFormat": "HTML tables on the CMS reports page",
    "sourceUrl": "https://www.cms.gov/initiatives/no-surprise-billing/overview/policies-resources/independent-dispute-resolution-reports",
    "tables": "Table 1 — Disputes Initiated; Table 2 — Reasons for Closure of Disputes",
    "note": "Figures are transcribed from the published federal tables. Nothing here is estimated, modelled or adjusted. Where a value is a sum of the two quarters, the field name says so."
  },
  "fields": {
    "as_of": "The date the release is stated to be as of",
    "period_start": "First day of the two-month period the release covers, from the column headers of its Table 1. The first release of 2026 covers December 2025 and January 2026.",
    "period_end": "Last day of that period",
    "initiated": "Disputes initiated in the period (Table 1)",
    "initiated_year_to_date": "Disputes initiated from 1 January 2026 to the as-of date (Table 1)",
    "closed": "Disputes closed in the period, for any reason (Table 2)",
    "closed_payment_determination": "Disputes closed with a payment determination (Table 2)",
    "closed_ineligible": "Disputes closed as ineligible for the federal process (Table 2)",
    "closed_other": "Disputes withdrawn, settled outside the process, or closed for administrative reasons such as data entry errors or neither party paying fees or submitting offers (Table 2)"
  },
  "note": "These releases give volumes and closure reasons only. Outcomes, prevailing offers, states, specialties and parties are published only in the supplemental tables, the most recent of which cover the second half of 2025.",
  "rows": [
    {
      "as_of": "2026-01-31",
      "period_start": "2025-12-01",
      "period_end": "2026-01-31",
      "initiated": 516241,
      "initiated_year_to_date": 248452,
      "closed": 506242,
      "closed_payment_determination": 399338,
      "closed_ineligible": 97074,
      "closed_other": 9830
    },
    {
      "as_of": "2026-03-31",
      "period_start": "2026-02-01",
      "period_end": "2026-03-31",
      "initiated": 578758,
      "initiated_year_to_date": 827210,
      "closed": 541142,
      "closed_payment_determination": 439505,
      "closed_ineligible": 87572,
      "closed_other": 14065
    },
    {
      "as_of": "2026-05-31",
      "period_start": "2026-04-01",
      "period_end": "2026-05-31",
      "initiated": 606079,
      "initiated_year_to_date": 1433289,
      "closed": 559008,
      "closed_payment_determination": 460998,
      "closed_ineligible": 88079,
      "closed_other": 9931
    },
    {
      "as_of": "2026-07-31",
      "period_start": "2026-06-01",
      "period_end": "2026-07-31",
      "initiated": 712561,
      "initiated_year_to_date": 2145850,
      "closed": 671465,
      "closed_payment_determination": 561572,
      "closed_ineligible": 98398,
      "closed_other": 11495
    },
    {
      "as_of": "2026-09-30",
      "period_start": "2026-08-01",
      "period_end": "2026-09-30",
      "initiated": 750022,
      "initiated_year_to_date": 2895872,
      "closed": 784352,
      "closed_payment_determination": 664305,
      "closed_ineligible": 101698,
      "closed_other": 18349
    }
  ],
  "sinceLaunch": {
    "period": {
      "start": "2022-04-15",
      "end": "2026-09-30"
    },
    "initiated": 7798616,
    "closed": 7304875,
    "closed_payment_determination": 5805326,
    "closed_ineligible": 1262335,
    "closed_other": 237214
  }
}