The Iowa legislature has unanimously voted to set deadlines for insurance companies being asked to authorize treatment, prescriptions or other health care services.
Senator Mike Klimesh of Spillville was the only lawmaker to speak before the bill passed the senate today.
“This bill actually starts to move the needle when it comes to prior authorization requests,” Klimesh says. “All too often myself and all my colleagues in this chamber hear from our local hospitals that say prior authorization consumes far too much time and money in our institutions. This starts to rectify those concerns from those local hospitals and ensures the review commitees or review companies handle it in a timely fashion without keeping our hospitals waiting for extended periods of time.”
The bill was approved in the Iowa House last year and it won unanimous House approval again two months ago. Under the bill, urgent prior authorization requests would have to be acknowleded within 24 hours and resolved within 48 hours. The bill would also set up a pilot project to exempt some Iowa health care providers from being forced to seek prior authorization.
The national trade association for health care companies is opposed to the bill, while Wellmark Blue Cross Blue Shield, the dominant health insurance company in Iowa, is registered in favor of it.