Preauthorization

Streamlining Prior Authorization Burdens - 02/05/2021

Prior authorization of health care services has become a burden and a barrier to physicians providing the care their patients need. Health plans maintain they require prior authorizations to ensure requested services are medically necessary and appropriate. But the escalation of prior authorization use may also be motivated by a desire to control costs.

AMA Advocates for 24/7 Prior Authorization Processing - 11/19/2020

AMA delegates passed new policy on Tuesday that advocates for insurers and benefit managers who require prior authorization to have staff available to process  those approvals 24 hours a day, year-round, “including holidays and weekends.”

Mixed Bag: Some Payers Capitalize on COVID Chaos; Others Help Make Care Easier - 10/30/2020

Physicians believe some payers are taking advantage of COVID chaos with their drug policies, but also see some plans taking steps to make care easier during the pandemic.

Appropriate Use of Time? Medicare Rules for Advanced Imaging Orders Pose Prior-Auth Burdens - 04/09/2020

An effective way to cut down on overuse of potentially harmful imaging, or a prior authorization-esque burden on physicians who order needed tests? Texas physicians see Medicare’s “appropriate use” system for advanced imaging both ways. As of Jan. 1, physicians ordering advanced imaging tests for Medicare patients must consult an electronic portal, which evaluates whether the test meets Medicare’s own “appropriate use criteria” for whether a test should be ordered. Then when the claim is filed, physicians must document that they checked the system and its determination.  

Plans Should Inform Patients of Network Status When Requiring PA - 03/25/2019

When a patient is preauthorized to receive a health care service scheduled at a facility, the health plan should use the information submitted on the standardized prior authorization form to inform the patient of the network status of any physicians or health care providers who may be involved in the preauthorized health care. It also should be used to educate the patient on what level of coverage the health plan will provide and what the patient’s financial responsibility will be to all physicians and providers.

Medicine to Feds: Back Off Prior Authorization Requirements - 03/07/2019

The Texas Medical Association, American Medical Association, and a host of other medical societies are trying to stop onerous, care-impeding prior authorization requirements from overrunning Medicare Advantage plans.

Humana Peer-to-Peer Review Changing for Medicare Advantage Plans - 10/05/2018

Effective Aug. 1, Humana Medicare Advantage health plans will no longer offer peer to peer reviews after a medical necessity denial. Instead, the company will offer to schedule a peer-to-peer review before Humana issues the denial

TMA Delegates Push Back Against Preauth - 05/30/2018

The Texas Medical Association House of Delegates worked to recover the time and authority that insurance authorization and preauthorization requirements have increasingly taken from the state’s physicians.

U.S. Physicians Call Prior Authorizations An Overwhelming Burden - 04/12/2018

A nationwide survey released this week by the American Medical Association documents the growing, negative effects insurance companies’ prior authorization demands have on patients’ health and physicians’ time.

Facing More Hoops - 10/27/2017

Opioid abuse has killed tens of thousands of Americans in recent years, prompting health plans to adjust their prescription drug policies, including changing formularies and prior-authorization processes.