CARE FIRST Act Looks to Curb Insurance Barriers to Medical Decisions
North Carolina representatives, the North Carolina Medical Society, and other healthcare leaders from around the state were on hand Tuesday to support House Bill 434, the CARE FIRST Act. The bill aims to reform the process of patients seeking prior authorization from their health insurance provider.
Passage of the bill is a top priority for NCMS members and staff this year.
NCMS Past President Representative Timothy Reeder, MD, NCMS Member Representative Grant Campbell, MD, and Representative Tricia Cotham are sponsoring the bill and introduced it at the standing-room-only press conference. The meeting featured Linsi Franklin, the mother of a 9-year-old boy diagnosed with severe Crohn’s Disease. She described her struggle with prior authorization, saying “I would spend hours on the phone daily with the insurance company trying to push the prior authorization through.” She added that she is fighting for prior auth reform “so other North Carolina families don’t have to.”
NCMS President Joh Meier, MD says “On multiple occasions, my patients have suffered because of the delays of unnecessary prior authorization. It is critical that prior authorization in North Carolina is reformed so that patients receive timely, necessary, and consistent care that is not delayed nor withdrawn retrospectively.”
The event has been covered extensively across the state. Here is a partial list of stories already posted:
WUNC – NC lawmakers take aim at insurance companies’ ‘prior authorization’ system
AOL – NC House bill takes aim at insurance company prior authorization practices
Blue Ridge Public Radio – NC lawmakers take aim at insurance companies’ ‘prior authorization’ system
WHQR – NC lawmakers take aim at insurance companies’ ‘prior authorization’ system
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