Every year, millions of people’s medical care runs into the roadblock known as prior authorization, which requires a patient’s health insurer to sign off before chemotherapy, surgery or countless other services can proceed. Who does this often onerous process help, who does it hurt and how could it work better for everyone?
Unnecessary Care
Posted inCost of Care
Promising Primary Care Program Cuts Unnecessary ER Visits
A randomized study finds that easing undocumented immigrants’ access to primary care cuts their use of the emergency room.
Posted inCost of Care
Pain, Fear and Waste: The Costs of Unnecessary Care
We explore cascades of care — how a clinician’s desire to be thorough can snowball into a harmful spiral of unnecessary care.
Posted inCost of Care
Pain, Fear and Waste: The Costs of Unnecessary Care
We explore cascades of care — how a clinician’s desire to be thorough can snowball into a harmful spiral of unnecessary care.
Posted inInsurance
The High Price of Lowering Health Costs for 150 Million Americans
Employers clash with hospitals, insurers and even their own workers over high health care prices.