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Send TMA Your Prior Authorization Nightmare Stories
By Amy Lynn Sorrel

Arbitrary. Confusing. Frustrating. Never-ending. Maddening. Those are some of the terms we can actually print that describe physicians’ experience with insurance companies’ prior authorization requirements and approval processes.   

Your personal stories of the impact of prior authorization requirements on your practice and patient care – including any patient harm due to prior authorization request delays or denials – can give the Texas Medical Association the ammunition it needs to fight this problem.    

According to a recent American Medical Association survey, 88% of physicians characterized the burdens associated with prior authorization as high or extremely high.  

But this is more than a doctor’s office hassle. Patients are paying the price with their health. In that same survey, an overwhelming majority of physicians (89%) reported the requirements had a negative impact on patient clinical outcomes.    

TMA made progress over the years, most recently with the passage of the "gold card" prior auth exemption law in 2021. And TMA continues to fight to make sure medicine's wins reduce prior authorization hassles and care delays as intended.   

That’s where you come in. TMA wants to collect your ongoing prior authorization nightmare stories to share with stakeholders and continue to drive change.  

Please submit your stories via TMA’s secure email portal.  Before submitting your story to us, it is important for you to ensure that your story submission complies with state and federal laws, including, to the extent applicable, the HIPAA privacy rule. HIPAA’s safe harbor list of 18 de-identification requirements, in accordance with Code of Federal Regulations, is available here.   

Last Updated On

December 11, 2023

Originally Published On

December 08, 2023

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Amy Lynn Sorrel

Associate Vice President, Editorial Strategy & Programming
Division of Communications and Marketing

(512) 370-1384
amy.sorrel[at]texmed[dot]org  
Amy Sorrel

Amy Lynn Sorrel has covered health care policy for nearly 20 years. She got her start in Chicago after earning her master’s degree in journalism from Northwestern University and went on to cover health care as an award-winning writer for the American Medical Association, and as an associate editor and managing editor at TMA. Amy is also passionate about health in general as a cancer survivor, avid athlete, traveler, and cook. She grew up in California and now lives in Austin with her Aggie husband and daughter.

More stories by Amy Sorrel  

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