$22,000 Per Hour: Assistants Use a Legislative Loophole to Outearn Surgeons
July 1, 2026

(NYT) – A law meant to end surprise medical billing has led to large paydays for some surgical assistants, who can earn far more than the doctors they help.
They do it by capitalizing on a law intended to protect patients from surprise billing by providers not in their insurance plan. Under the law, those providers can file for arbitration, where they are able to make a case for much higher payments than they could otherwise receive from health plans. (Read More)