Doctors Must Fight the RFK Nomination

By DANIEL STONE As a doctor, I consider Secretary Xavier Becerra and his Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) to be allies of practitioners like me. The behemoth federal agency administers Medicare and Medicaid, the Food and Drug Administration, and an army of public health workers. The Surgeon General, symbolic leader of the nation’s…

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Medicare Advantage Insurers Made Nearly 50 Million Prior Authorization Determinations in 2023

Nearly 50 million prior authorization requests were submitted to Medicare Advantage insurers on behalf of Medicare Advantage enrollees in 2023, of which 3.2 million (6.4%) were denied. Just 11.7% of denied requests were appealed, though 81.7% of appeals overturned the initial denial in Medicare Advantage. Substantially fewer prior authorization requests were made in traditional Medicare,…

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