- The Honorable Richard Blumenthal
Chairman
Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations
Senate Homeland Security & Governmental Affairs Committee
Washington, DC 20510 - The Honorable Ron Johnson
Ranking Member
Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations
Senate Homeland Security & Governmental Affairs Committee
Washington, DC 20510 - The Honorable Gary Peters
Chair
Senate Homeland Security & Governmental Affairs Committee
Washington, DC 20510 - The Honorable Rand Paul
Ranking Member
Senate Homeland Security & Governmental Affairs Committee
Washington, DC 20510
Subject: Delays and Denials in Medicare Advantage Plans
Dear Chairs Blumenthal and Peters and Ranking Members Johnson and Paul:
As the Alliance of Specialty Medicine (Alliance), a coalition of 16 medical specialty societies representing more than 100,000 physicians and surgeons, our mission is to advocate for sound federal health care policy that fosters patient access to the highest quality specialty care. We write to thank you for examining Medicare Advantage plans during the hearing “Examining Health Care Denials and Delays in Medicare Advantage.”
Prior authorization is a cumbersome process that requires physicians to obtain pre-approval for medical treatments or tests before rendering care to their patients. The process for obtaining this approval is lengthy and typically requires physicians or their staff to spend the equivalent of two or more days each week negotiating with insurance companies — time that would better be spent taking care of patients. Patients are now experiencing significant barriers to medically necessary care due to prior authorization requirements for items and services that are eventually routinely approved.
Click here to read the full Neurosurgery Joins Alliance in Educating Senate about Prior Auth in Medicare.
