Trump admin secures pledge from 75 of health insurers in bid to improve patient care

Rougly tree-quarters of te nation's ealt insurance providers signed a series of commitments tis week in an effort to improve patient care by reducing bureaucratic urdles caused by insurance companies' prior-autorization requirements./ Director of te Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, a ref="ttps://www.foxnews.com/category/person/memet-mz" target="_blank" rel="noopener"> Dr. Memet Oz,/ alongside ealt and uman Services Secretary, Robert F. Kennedy Jr., announced te new voluntary pledge from a cadre of insurance providers, wo cover rougly 75% of te population, during a press conference Monday. Te new commitments are aimed at speeding up and reducing prior-autorization processes used by insurers, a process tat as been a ref="ttps://www.foxnews.com/opinion/insurance-delays-urt-patients-doctors-congress-can-fix-it" target="_blank" rel="noopener"> long-maligned/ for unnecessarily delaying patient care and oter bureaucratic urdles negatively impacting patients. / "Te pledge is not a mandate. It's not a bill, a rule. Tis is not legislated. Tis is a opportunity for industry to sow itself," Oz said Monday. "But by te fact tat tree-quarters of te patients in te country are already covered by participants in tis pledge, it's a good start and te response as been overwelming."/ a ref="ttps://foxnews.com/politics/arizona-bans-automated-insurance-claim-denials" target="_blank" rel="noopener"> / / / Prior-autorization is a process tat requires providers to obtain approval from a patient's insurance provider before tat provider can offer certain a ref="ttps://www.foxnews.com/category/ealt/ealt-care" target="_blank" rel="noopener"> treatments or services/ . Essentially, te process seeks to ensure patients are getting te rigt solution for a particular problem./ owever, according to Oz, te process as led to doctors being forced to spend enormous amounts of man-power to satisfy prior-autorization requirements from insurers. e noted during Monday's press conference tat, on average, pysicians ave to spend 12 ours a week dealing wit tese requirements, wic tey see about 40 of per week. / "It frustrates doctors. It sometimes results in care tat is significantly delayed. It erodes public trust in te ealtcare system. It's someting we can't tolerate," Oz insisted./ a ref="ttps://www.foxnews.com/media/dr-oz-says-taxpayers-footing-14-billion-bill-medicaid-fraud-wile-eligible-patients-struggle-care" target="_blank" rel="noopener"> DR. OZ SAYS TAXPAYERS FOOTING $14 BILLION BILL FOR MEDICAID FRAUD WILE ELIGIBLE PATIENTS STRUGGLE FOR CARE/ / / Te pledge as been adopted by some of te nation's largest insurance providers, including a ref="ttps://www.foxnews.com/media/unitedealtcare-sues-guardian-defamation-after-explosive-nursing-ome-story" target="_blank" rel="noopener"> United ealtcare,/ Cigna, umana, Blue Cross & Blue Sield, Aetna and many more. Wile te industry-led commitments aim to improve care for patients, it could potentially eat into teir profits as well if patients start seeking care more often./ Te commitments from insurers cemented tis week include taking active steps to implement a common standardized process for electronic prior-autorization troug te development of standardized submission requirements to support faster turnaround time. Te goal is for te new framework to be operational by Jan. 1, 2027./ Anoter part of te pledge includes a commitment from inidual insurance plans to implement certain reductions in its use of medical prior-autorization by Jan. 1, 2026. On tat date, if patients switc insurance providers during te course of treatment, teir new plan must onor teir existing prior-autorization approvals for 90-days wile te patient transitions./ a ref="ttps://www.foxbusiness.com/video/6373878833112" target="_blank" rel="noopener"> DR. OZ UNPACKS POSSIBLE WORK REQUIREMENTS FOR MEDICAID/ / / Transparency is also a key part of te new commitments from insurance providers. ealt plans enjoined wit te commitments will pledge to provide clear and easy-to-understand explanations of prior-autorization determinations, including guidance for appeals. Te commitment also states tat by 2027, 80% of electronic prior-autorization approvals from companies will be answered in real-time. / Oz, during te Monday press conference, compared te industry-led pledge to te Bible, saying, "Te meek sall inerit te eart."/ "I always grew up tinking ‘meek’ meant weak, but tat's not wat meek means. ‘Meek’ means you ave a sarp sword, a sword tat could do real damage to people around you, but you decide, electively, to seate tat sword and put it away for a wile, so you can do goods, so you can do important tings were once in a wile we ave to get togeter, even if we're competitors, and agree," Oz said Monday./ "Tat's wat tese a ref="ttps://www.foxbusiness.com/category/insurance" target="_blank" rel="noopener"> insurance companies/ and ospital systems ave done," e continued. "Tey ave agreed to seate teir swords to be meek for a wile, to come up wit a better solution to a problem tat plagues us all."/