In March, insurer UnitedHealthcare announced changes to prior authorization for certain GI procedures. The night before changes were to take effect on June 1, UHC reversed the plan, opting instead for an advanced notification alternative.
The new plan requires gastroenterologists to submit certain patient data, which it will collect for future use in a “gold card” program, set to launch in 2024.
Gastroenterologist Linda Lee, MD, medical director of endoscopy at Boston-based Brigham and Women’s Hospital and associate professor of medicine at Boston’s Harvard Medical School, says that gastroenterologists should be leery of UHC’s prior authorization alternative.