More Insurers Scale Back on Prior Authorizations

Some of the nation’s largest insurers have announced plans to roll back their prior authorization requirements for medical services, and some are doing this in their Medicare Advantage plans as well.

The moves come as states and the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services are implementing rules that aim to streamline prior authorizations for Medicare Advantage plans.

Prior authorization — or prior approval — has always been a thorn in the side of patients, often keeping them from accessing care in a timely fashion. The moves by these insurers come after the CMS announced earlier this year that it would require health insurers to automate prior authorization and return decisions more quickly.

These developments are good news for Medicare Advantage enrollees and should improve their health care experience and access to timely care. Many of these changes took effect immediately and some will start in 2024.

While original Medicare, including Part A, rarely requires prior authorization, Medicare Advantage plans, which are often preferred provider organizations and health maintenance organizations, may require it for certain procedures.

Under prior authorization, doctors and other health care providers must obtain advance approval from a health plan to qualify for coverage before they deliver a specific service to the patient. Health insurers have lists of services that require prior approval, in order to control their costs.

Nearly all Medicare Advantage enrollees (99%) are in plans requiring prior authorization. Often, the prior authorization is for more expensive services, such as an MRI or being transferred from a hospital to a skilled nursing facility.

In 2021, 6% — or 2 million Medicare Advantage prior authorization determinations — were denied, according to a report issued by the Kaiser Family Foundation in February 2023.

What insurers are doing

Here are what a few of the nation’s largest health insurance players are doing:

  • Cigna — In August 2023, Cigna announced with immediate effect that it would no longer require prior approvals for nearly 25% of medical services, and it plans to cut another 500 or so codes that require prior authorization for its Medicare Advantage plans before the end of this year.
  • UnitedHealthcare— UnitedHealthcare, starting in Spring 2023 and lasting through the end of the year, aims to eliminate almost 20% of its current prior authorizations. It also plans to eliminate a code for cardiology stress test prior authorization for Medicare Advantage members, eliminating the need for some 316,000 prior authorization requests a year.
  • Aetna — In 2022, The insurer rolled back prior authorization requirements on cataract surgeries, video EEGs and home infusion for some drugs. Aetna said that it had also reduced automated prior authorizations by more than 10% in 2022, with plans to more than double that this year, according to press reports.

States, regulators taking action

Three states — Louisiana, Michigan and Texas — already have “gold card” laws on their books that except from prior authorization rules certain doctors whose requests are routinely approved. This year, another 24 states have introduced similar legislation, according to a report by the Wall Street Journal.

Meanwhile, in April 2023, the Biden administration implemented a final rule designed to ensure people with Medicare Advantage plans get access to the same necessary care — prescriptions, medical tests, equipment and procedures — as they would receive in traditional Medicare.

The new rules, which require that plans automate their prior approval procedures, are slated to take effect in 2024. The final rule also requires that approval of a prior authorization request for a course of treatment must be valid for as long as medically reasonable and necessary to avoid disruptions in care. 

The new rules would also prevent patients from having their medical care discontinued just because they’ve switched Medicare Advantage plans or moved from traditional Medicare to Medicare Advantage.

Medicare Advantage, Part D Plans Get COVID-19 Leeway

The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services has issued new guidance regarding how Medicare Advantage and Part D plans can respond to enrollees affected by the coronavirus outbreak.

Under the guidance, the plans are authorized, but not required to waive out-of-pocket costs for testing, treatment and other services related to the coronavirus.

The rules come on the heels of many of the country’s largest insurance companies announcing that they would be treating at least COVID-19 testing as covered benefits and would waive cost-sharing for tests.

The CMS made the announcement in light of the fact that COVID-19, which is caused by the coronavirus, has the most severe effects on the elderly population, as well as people with pre-existing health conditions like heart disease, cancer, diabetes and compromised immune systems. 

“Medicare beneficiaries are at the greatest risk of serious illness due to COVID-19 and CMS will continue doing everything in our power to protect them,” CMS Administrator Seema Verma said in a prepared statement. She added that the new guidance was aimed removing “barriers that could prevent or delay beneficiaries from receiving care.”

In the new COVID-19 guidance Medicare Advantage and Part D plans can:

  • Waive cost-sharing for testing.
  • Waive treatment cost-sharing, including primary care, emergency department, and telehealth services.
  • Eliminate prior authorizations for treatment.
  • Eliminate prescription refill restrictions.
  • Decrease limitations around home or mail prescription delivery.
  • Increase patient access to telehealth care.

These waivers are aimed at breaking down barriers to accessing care and allow plans to work with pharmacies and providers to treat patients.

Medicare Advantage rule changes

Under the new guidance, if a state of emergency is declared in your state, Medicare Advantage insurers are required to:

  • Cover Medicare Parts A and B services and supplemental Part C plan benefits furnished at non-contracted facilities, as long as they have participation agreements with Medicare.
  • Provide the same cost-sharing for enrollees at non-plan facilities as if the service or benefit had been furnished at a plan-contracted facility.
  • Make changes that benefit the enrollee effective immediately without the typical 30-day notification requirement (such as changes like reductions in cost-sharing and waiving prior authorizations).

The CMS said it would continue toexercise its enforcement discretion regarding the administration of Medicare Advantage plans’ benefit packages in light of the new emergency guidance.

Part D changes

Under the new rules:

  • Part D insurers may relax their “refill-too-soon” rules if circumstances are reasonably expected to result in a disruption in access to drugs. The rules may vary, as long as they provide access to Part D drugs at the point of sale. Part D sponsors may also allow an affected enrollee to obtain the maximum extended day supply available under their plan, if requested and available.
  • Part D insurers must ensure enrollees have adequate access to covered Part D drugs if they have to get their prescription filled at an out-of-network pharmacy in cases when those enrollees cannot reasonably be expected to obtain covered Part D drugs at a network pharmacy.
    Plan cost-sharing levels would still apply and enrollees could be responsible for additional charges (i.e., the out-of-network pharmacy’s usual and customary charge), if any, that exceed the plan allowance.
  • If enrollees are prohibited by a mandatory quarantine from going to a pharmacy to pick up their medications, Part D insurers can relax any plan-imposed rules that may discourage mail or home delivery, for retail pharmacies that choose to offer these delivery services in these instances.
  • Part D insurers may choose to waive prior authorization requirements at any time that they otherwise would apply to Part D drugs used to treat or prevent COVID-19, if or when such drugs are identified. Any such waiver must be uniformly provided to similarly situated enrollees who are affected by the disaster or emergency.

The takeaway

With these new rules and guidelines in place, if you are a Medicare recipient, this news should give you comfort as it should mean reduced costs and access to care and medicine as the outbreak continues.

If you are concerned about coverage, you can contact your Medicare Advantage plan to confirm that it has made the necessary changes to ease the burden on policyholders during the coronavirus crisis.