Major U.S. health insurers UnitedHealthcare and Aetna together with other major insurers have announced their commitment to decrease the implementation of prior authorization protocols which patients and doctors widely criticize for delaying medical care.
The insurers plan to restrict the number of services needing pre-approval while creating uniform request formats and implementing real-time decision systems. The healthcare industry has made this change after doctors and patients continuously criticized the system for blocking timely access to essential treatments.
The medical authorization system was created to prevent excessive use and validate treatment appropriateness yet critics maintain it has evolved into an overly complicated and difficult process. The death of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson in December intensified public frustration about insurance delays because people grew angry about unclear and unpredictable approval procedures.
Insurers aim to restore trust in healthcare by simplifying their approval processes while adopting automated systems to minimize system delays. The announcement demonstrates insurance companies’ readiness to address increasing regulatory and physician and consumer oversight but it remains unclear if these reforms will create substantial changes.
