Many in Congress think the government needs to set stricter rules to prevent health insurers’ from slow-walking decisions on whether to approve treatments.
But representatives hit a snag last year after their bill to tighten up the “prior authorization” process breezed through the House because senators were concerned about the measure’s projected $16 billion cost.
So they’re urging the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services to use its power over insurers to tighten up the rules around prior authorization.
More than 230 representatives and 61 senators wrote today to Health and Human Services Secretary Xavier Becerra and CMS Administrator Chiquita Brooks-LaSure asking them to make changes to a rule CMS proposed in December that would require health insurance companies to modernize the way they process treatment-authorization requests from providers.
“The proposed CMS rules make huge strides forward for seniors,” Rep. Suzan DelBene (D-Wash.), the lead author of the letter and sponsor of last year’s bill, told POLITICO. “But we think it needs to go further.” Read more.
