The Better Medicare Alliance, a Medicare Advantage advocacy group, is endorsing a bill to simplify prior authorizations for seniors.
Dubbed the "Improving Seniors’ Timely Access to Care Act," the bill first introduced last year, would require Medicare Advantage Organizations to report to CMS on the extent of their use of prior authorization and rates of approvals or denials.
"The Improving Seniors’ Timely Access to Care Act is a common sense solution that builds on the work the Medicare Advantage community has been doing to streamline prior authorization for seniors," Better Medicare Alliance President and CEO Mary Beth Donahue said in a May 26 news release.
The bill is sponsored by Reps. Suzan DelBene, D-Wash., Mike Kelly, R-Pa., Ami Bera, D-Calif., and Larry Bucshon, R-Ind. The representatives urged action on the legislation after an April 27 report that found Medicare Advantage Organizations sometimes delayed or denied enrollees' access to services even though the request met Medicare coverage rules.