America's Health Insurance Plans: Hospitals, Physicians, Health Insurance Providers Urge CMS Not to Implement Costly, Conflicting Prior Authorization Standards

WASHINGTON, July 28 -- America's Health Insurance Plans issued the following news release:

In a remarkable demonstration of unity, AHIP, the American Medical Association (AMA), the American Hospital Association (AHA), and the Blue Cross Blue Shield Association (BCBSA) came together to urge the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) to reconsider prior authorization standards the agency has proposed.

The leading health care associations agree: The inclusion of prior authorization standards in the Administrative Simplification proposed rule would conflict with the standards proposed in the Interoperability and Prior Authorization rule, which would "set the stage for multiple [prior authorization] electronic standards and workflows and create the very same costly burdens that administrative simplification seeks to alleviate."

Moving forward with 2 sets of standards would run counter to the goals of administrative simplification, cause confusion, slow implementation, and unnecessarily increase costs, the letter said. For these reasons, the organizations strongly advise against adoption of prior authorization standards within the Administrative Simplification final rule.

Click here (https://www.ahip.org/prior-authorization-helping-patients-receive-safe-effective-and-appropriate-care) for more information on AHIP's positions on prior authorization.

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Original text here: https://www.ahip.org/news/press-releases/hospitals-physicians-health-insurance-providers-urge-cms-not-to-implement-costly-conflicting-prior-authorization-standards