Arbitration profits: HaloMD and the Laroques' medical-bill empire
A STAT investigation traces how Alla and Scott LaRoque built wealth via HaloMD, a middleman that uses a 2020 federal arbitration process to resolve disputed out-of-network medical bills; while they frame themselves as reformers, lawsuits from four Blue Cross Blue Shield insurers allege HaloMD rigs the system for large payouts, and the company claims over $1 billion in annual revenue for itself and its provider clients, illustrating a broader pattern of exploiting loopholes that undercut protections against surprise billing.