The Regulatory Relief Coalition sent a letter to House and Senate leadership urging them to pass the Improving Seniors’ Timely Access to Care Act (S.4532/H.R. 8702) by the end of the 118th Congress. The stakeholders emphasized how current prior authorization practices delay patient care, impose unnecessary costs and burden health care providers with excessive red tape.
On Oct. 17, the Senate Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations Majority Staff released a report exposing Medicare Advantage insurers’ refusal of care for vulnerable seniors. The full report, available here, details how certain MA plans overuse risk adjustment coding and use prior authorization to delay or deny medically necessary care, impacting patient outcomes. It calls for enhanced oversight to ensure that the program fulfills its promise of providing high-quality, cost-effective care to seniors rather than prioritizing insurer profits. The report further evidences the need to pass the Improving Seniors’ Timely Access to Care Act as well as other reform measures.
