Republican Tennessee Rep. Mark Green will introduce legislation Wednesday to cut medical red tape for Americans on Medicare and reduce delays in care caused by prior authorization.
Green will introduce the Reducing Medically Unnecessary Delays in Care Act, which would restrict the power of bureaucrats to veto healthcare options for Americans on Medicare and streamline the process for Americans to get the treatments they need, the Daily Caller first learned. The bill would reform Medicare’s prior authorization, which requires that doctors get approval for any treatment or procedure they wish to give a patient in order for it to be covered by Medicare.
Reducing Medically Unnecessary Delays in Care Act by Dylan Housman on Scribd
The legislation would require that all prior authorization determinations be made by a licensed physician with board certification relevant to the treatment in question. Further, it would necessitate that Medicare, Medicare Part D and Medicare Advantage base restrictions on medical necessity and clear clinical criteria. It would also increase transparency requirements around those decisions. (RELATED: Trump Signed Multiple Drug-Pricing Reforms In 2020. Here’s How They Moved The Needle)
“It’s high time to get bureaucrats out of the doctor’s office once and for all. Delays in medical care brought about by prior authorization allow for a patient’s condition to worsen, such as a cancer spreading to other parts of the body,” Green, who himself is a physician, told the Daily Caller. “We must do right by our doctors and their patients and end this practice once and for all.”