Promises Shmomises

Prior authorization pledges have the same credibility as a used car warranty scrawled on a cocktail napkin. This shiny announcement from CMS and a parade of insurers reads like a victory lap for doing the bare minimum. UnitedHealthcare, Aetna, Cigna, Humana, and the Blue Cross cartel signed on to “improve” the system. Great. They also promised the same in 2018, 2021, and last Tuesday. Meanwhile, patients keep fighting to get chemo approved before cancer decides to spread somewhere new.

When I hear Dr. Oz say the industry “wants to show itself,” I picture a Scooby-Doo villain ripping off the mask to reveal the same boardroom that invented this mess. The press release brags about “efficiency” and “transparency.” Show me one cancer survivor who believes that. Prior auth has never been about care. It’s about delay, attrition, and profit.

People will die waiting for an algorithm to decide if they deserve to live. But sure, let’s clap for a voluntary pledge that carries zero accountability. If regulators mean business, they will codify protections with real teeth, not a round of photo ops.

I have seen too many families wrecked by this bureaucracy to buy the hype. Patients deserve laws, not empty promises. I hope they prove me wrong.

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SOURCE ➡️ https://www.hhs.gov/press-room/kennedy-oz-cms-secure-healthcare-industry-pledge-to-fix-prior-authorization-system.html