Know Your Patients’ Rights
Health insurers’ policies to reduce costs, such as step therapy, prior authorization, and nonmedical switching, often interfere with health care providers’ treatment decisions. As a result, not only do such policies delay or prevent patients from accessing their prescribed care, but they also hinder providers’ ability to obtain payment and create costly administrative waste for medical practices.
According to Aimed Alliance’s new survey (“the Survey”) of primary care physicians (PCPs), 79 percent of respondents state that health insurers negatively impact their ability to properly care for their patients, and 85 percent of physicians feel that health insurers compromise the long-term health of patients for short-term cost savings. Other Survey findings include:
- 77 percent of PCPs report that their practices have to hire additional staff to address health insurers’ requirements, thereby significantly increasing their practices’ administrative costs.
- 75 percent state that insurers don’t honor their commitments. Insurers say they will cover treatments but then refuse to pay for them.
- 65 percent feel that their practices face greater legal risks because of health insurers’ decisions.
For further findings, view the Survey here: https://aimedalliance.org/providerperceptionssurvey.