Coming Soon: Changes to Batching Disputes 

On November 1, 2026, the Federal IDR portal (soon-to-be IDR Gateway)[1] will support the treatment of batched qualified IDR items and services requirements under the Federal IDR Operations Final Rules (final rules). The changes to the Federal IDR portal functionalities include the following: 

• Any batched dispute submitted with an open negotiation start date on or after November 1, 2026, will be limited to 50 dispute line items. 

• A payment determination for a batched dispute with an open negotiation start date on or after November 1, 2026 will trigger a 30-business-day cooling off period during which the party that initiated the Federal IDR process may not submit a subsequent Federal IDR dispute involving the same other party with respect to a claim for the same item or service that was the subject of the prior payment determination.

This serves as notice that the functionality to support the treatment of batched qualified IDR items and services under the final rules will be available on November 1, 2026, which is 90 calendar days after today’s date (the effective date of the Federal IDR Operations Rule). All batching provisions in the final rules will be applicable for disputes with open negotiation periods beginning on and after November 1, 2026.

Questions? 

Contact FederalIDRQuestions@cms.hhs.gov. 

Federal IDR Team 

Center for Consumer Information and Insurance Oversight (CCIIO)
Department of Health and Human Services
Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services