The health insurance industry has committed to a series of new policies aimed at simplifying and reducing prior authorization requirements, but a majority of adults say they haven’t heard anything about the initiative, nor do they expect it to make a real impact, according to a KFF Health Tracking Poll published July 25.
The survey was conducted from July 8 to 14 online and by telephone among a nationally representative sample of 1,283 U.S. adults in English and Spanish. The margin of error is plus or minus 3 percentage points.
Four notes:
1. Among adults, 73% say that care delays and denials by insurers are a major problem, and 21% say it’s a minor problem. The majority of Democrats, Republicans and independents believe insurer-driven delays and denials are a major problem.
2. Only 20% of adults say they’ve heard a lot or some about the insurance industry’s new prior authorization commitments, and 56% have heard nothing about it. More than 60% of adults believe it is unlikely for insurers to follow through on the initiative in a meaningful way.
3. Just over half of adults with insurance say that their plan has required them or their provider to obtain prior authorization before a service in the last two years. This figure is consistent across employer, self-purchased, Medicaid and Medicare Advantage plans. 47% of respondents said it was somewhat or very difficult to obtain approval.
4. Among those who needed prior authorization in the past two years, 48% said their plan delayed their ability to get a service and 43% said they were denied coverage for a service requested by their physician.
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