Federal IDR guides
Contingency fee or platform fee: which is better for IDR?
IDR vendors charge a share of what they recover, or a fee per dispute. What each costs, what each rewards, and the question to ask before you sign.
Verified September 11, 2026
Short answer
Most IDR vendors charge a contingency fee. Somewhere between 10% and 25% of what they recover, lower at higher volume. A few charge a platform fee instead. A flat amount per dispute, or per month, win or lose.
Contingency lines up the vendor's pay with yours. The vendor only makes money when you do, and makes more when the number is bigger. A platform fee is cheaper on paper for big claims. It also pays the vendor the same for a weak offer as for a strong one.
The two models
| Contingency | Platform fee | |
|---|---|---|
| What you pay | A share of what comes back | A set amount per dispute or per month |
| Typical range | 10% to 25% of recovery | Set by the vendor, on top of the IDR fees |
| If you lose | Nothing to the vendor | You still pay |
| What the vendor is paid for | The amount won | Filing |
| Who carries the risk | The vendor carries its own fee. You still carry the IDR fees | You |
| Best for | Groups that want volume and a bigger number | Groups with a few large claims and their own team |
Both models leave you paying the CMS fee and the IDR entity fee. Those are set by the government and the entity, not the vendor. The entity fee comes back if you win.
Why the incentive matters
The IDR entity picks one offer. In 2025 the provider's offer won 86% of decided lines. Win rate is close to a given. The result you should care about is the number. The median winning offer was 399% of the QPA. The top quarter was above 813%.
A vendor paid per dispute has no reason to work on that number. A safe ask that wins is a job done. A vendor paid a share of the recovery is paid on the gap between a safe ask and a well-built one.
What to check on a contingency contract
The rate. And what it is a share of. The whole payment, or only the amount above what the payer first paid.
What happens on a settlement before the decision.
Whether the fee scales down as your volume goes up.
Who pays the IDR entity fee when a dispute is lost.
What to check on a platform fee
Whether the fee is charged on disputes that close ineligible.
Who sets the offer, and whether you can see it first.
What the vendor does when a payer does not pay after the decision.
Recourse
Where Recourse fits
Recourse charges a contingency fee. We are paid on what we recover, so we spend our effort on the offer, not on the filing count. Our rate sits in the normal range, and often at the low end of it, because a bigger number covers a smaller share.
Sources
CMS Federal IDR Public Use Files, 2025 Q1 to Q4, line level, air ambulance excluded, deduplicated to the latest quarterly record; CMS notice, "IDR Administrative Fee Update," June 3, 2026. Fee ranges are Recourse's read of the market and are not in any public file.
Every number on this page comes from public CMS files or the federal rule. Our methodology explains how we count. Questions? sales@recoursehealth.com
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