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Connolly Strategies & Initiatives |
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HEALTH POLICY |
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What's New |
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Prior Authorization on the Increase Health insurers and employers, looking to ease mounting medical costs, are again tightening their control over big-ticket procedures and drugs, according to a study by the Center for Studying Health System Change, Washington. In the late 1990s, many health plans responded to consumer demand by easing utilization restrictions and eliminating preauthorization requirements for specialty care and many tests and procedures. But the 2002-03 survey of healthcare leaders in 12 U.S. cities found that many health plans are reintroducing prior-approval requirements for certain services considered the highest cost or most prone to overuse, including chiropractic care, diagnostic imaging, outpatient surgery, plastic surgery and physical therapy. Insurers and employers also are requiring more prior approvals for prescription drugs that are often abused, such as Viagra and OxyContin, the study found. (Modern Healthcare, March 2004) Public's Concern Over Cost of Health Care Grows Concern about health care costs was second only to concern about terrorism among respondents asked to name the most important issue facing the United States, according to an Associated Press poll, the AP/Atlanta Journal-Constitution reports. Ipsos Public Affairs conducted the poll for AP from Jan. 5 to Jan. 7; 1,000 adults participated in the poll, which used an open-ended question format rather than choosing from a list of provided options. Concern about health care costs increased to 19 percent in the most recent poll, up from 11 percent in 2003 and 5 percent in 2002. Health care costs were cited as a concern by 26 percent of women, compared with 13 percent of men. According to the poll, Democrats were twice as likely as Republicans to cite health care as a significant national problem. Twenty-one percent of respondents cited terrorism as the most important issue facing the nation, followed by health care costs at 19 percent and the economy at 18 percent. Overall, 33 percent of respondents cited the economy and "other economy-related issues" as the primary issue facing the nation (Atlanta Journal-Constitution, 1/20/04). |
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