SUBJECT: Improving Seniors’ Timely Access to Care Act
Dear Dr. Marshall,
On behalf of the American Association of Neurological Surgeons (AANS) and the Congress of
Neurological Surgeons (CNS), we are pleased to endorse your legislation, the “Improving Seniors’
Timely Access to Care Act.”
As you know, 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.
Your bill will help reduce the administrative burdens of prior authorization in the Medicare Advantage
program by, among other things, increasing transparency, streamlining prior authorization processes and
minimizing the use of prior authorization for services that are routinely approved.
Thank you for your leadership on this issue. We would also like to acknowledge the work of your staff,
Colleen Nguyen, for her work on this legislation.
The AANS and the CNS look forward to working with you to gain passage of this critical legislation
