UnitedHealth is backing off a controversial plan to require prior authorizations for colonoscopies and other endoscopic procedures. But the debate over insurer sign-offs that it stoked will likely linger.
Why it matters: While prior authorizations are supposed to ensure that health services are medically necessary, critics say they can create barriers to care and drown the health system in red tape.
Driving the news: UnitedHealth, the biggest commercial health insurer in the U.S., planned today to start requiring prior authorizations for most endoscopic procedures, including some to treat cancer and gastrointestinal diseases.