Sen. Ossoff aiming to ban insurance companies from denying health care needs | Local News
US Sen. Jon Ossoff of Georgia is working to ban insurance companies that delay or deny wanted health care.
In a letters To Senate leaders, Ossoff stated sufferers throughout the nation, together with in Georgia, are being denied “medically necessary care,” regardless of paying excessive premiums.
“No American should be delayed or denied needed health care. It is unacceptable that Americans, who are paying record premiums to insurers making record profits in the world’s richest country, are nevertheless denied medically necessary care.” Sen. Ossoff wrote. “The abuse of ‘prior authorization’ practices has led to Georgians being denied life-saving medication and waiting months for the care they need—all at the whim of insurance companies. This requires us to act in defense of our constituents’ health.”
A latest study from Johns Hopkins University discovered prior authorization is linked to worsening health outcomes, together with elevated hospitalizations, longer hospital stays, and decrease survival charges, a press launch from Sen. Ossoff quotes.
Ossoff additionally notes information from the KFF that illuminates the scope of the issue. Nearly all seniors enrolled in Medicare Advantage plans require prior authorization for some providers, and greater than 4 million requests had been denied in 2024. The group additionally stories that just about 85 million had been denied in-network claims underneath the Affordable Care Act in 2024, and fewer than 1% had been appealed.
“In support of your efforts on behalf of American patients and families, I am calling on the Senate to take up legislation that will end the abusive denial or delay of medically necessary health care. At minimum, such legislation should hold insurance companies accountable for improper denials of care, mandate immediate response from insurance companies to requests for authorization, and prohibit retroactive denials of authorization except in cases of fraud or misrepresentation,” Sen. Ossoff stated.
Earlier this month, Ossoff launched an inquiry with Mehmet Ozadministrator of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, over insurance practices contributing to delays in care.
Ossoff has additionally backed a number of bipartisan measurestogether with laws to develop entry to listening to units for kids, enhance transparency in generic drug approvals, and scale back delays for Medicaid sufferers looking for specialty care.
Read Sen. Ossoff’s letter under:
