The American College of Cardiology (ACC) has shared its support of bipartisan legislation designed to reform the prior authorization process for patients on Medicare Advantage plans.
The Improving Seniors’ Timely Access to Care Act, if signed into law, would establish an electronic prior authorization process and help physicians gain real-time approval of routinely approved medical services, among other things. It was reintroduced to Congress on May 13 by U.S. Representatives Susan DelBene, Mike Kelly, Ami Bera and Larry Bucshon.
The ACC is enthusiastically backing the legislation, noting that it would help clinicians spend less time seeking approval and more time treating their patients.
“Prior authorization is imposed on physicians to obtain pre-approval for medical test and treatments … this process is time-consuming, burdensome, and of no clinical benefit to the patient,” Samuel O. Jones IV, MD, chair of the ACC Health Affairs Committee, said in a prepared statement. “In fact, the time spent on prior authorization takes an average of two days each week by physicians and their staff—this is time that would be better spent taking care of patients. These hurdles not uncommonly lead to delays in medical care for patients. In order to help preserve the patient-physician relationship and in order to streamline care, we are excited about the transparency and oversight that will be brought to the Medicare Advantage program by the Improving Seniors' Timely Access to Care Act of 2021, and look forward to working with Congress and other parties to make the system better for our cardiovascular patients.”
The representatives behind the bill also shared their thoughts on why this would be such an important step forward for the country.
“When seniors need critical medical care, doctors and other healthcare providers should be spending their time working with patients instead of going back and forth on requests that should be electronic, standardized, and eventually automated,” DelBene said in a separate statement. “The majority of the health care community agrees that prior authorization needs to be reformed. This bipartisan legislation creates sensible rules for the road and will offer transparency and oversight to the prior authorization process.”
“Americans who are enrolled in Medicare Advantage plans sometimes face unnecessary delays in treatment and diagnoses, but this legislation will modernize the process of prior authorization so medical providers can offer them safe, timely, and affordable care,” added Kelly. “This common sense, bipartisan plan will give seniors peace of mind and improve America’s health care system.”
Michael has more than 16 years of experience as a professional writer and editor. He has written at length about cardiology, radiology, artificial intelligence and other key healthcare topics.