AMA Releases Survey Results on Prior Authorization During COVID-19

As COVID-19 cases in the U.S. were peaking in late 2020, most physicians reported that health plans continued to impose bureaucratic prior authorization policies that delay access to necessary care and sometimes result in serious harm to patients, according to recent survey results issued by the AMA. Key findings of the report include:

• Almost 70% of 1,000 practicing physicians reported that health insurers had either reverted to past prior authorizations policies or never relaxed these policies in the first place;
• More than nine in 10 physicians (94%) reported care delays while waiting for health insurers to authorize necessary care; and
• Nearly four in five physicians (79%) said patients abandon treatment due to authorization struggles with health insurers.
  

The findings of the AMA survey illustrate a critical need to streamline or eliminate low-value prior-authorization requirements to minimize delays or disruptions in care delivery.

Click here to read the full report.