Rep. Ted Budd Sponsors Bill to Improve Timeless of Senior Healthcare

Press Release

Rep. Ted Budd (R-NC) has sponsored H.R. 3173, the Improving Seniors' Timely Access to Care Act. This bipartisan bill would speed up the prior authorization process for Medicare Advantage plans, which would fast track care for common medical procedures.

The bill was originally introduced by Reps. Suzan DelBene (D-WA), Mike Kelly (R-PA), Ami Bera (D-CA), and Larry Bucshon (R-IN).

Rep. Budd said in a statement:

"It is inexcusable that red tape regulations get in the way of a senior's healthcare. I'm proud to support this common sense solution to speed up the approval process for Medicare Advantage so that patients receive the care they need when they need it."

Background:

The bill would create a system of electronic prior-authorization and would require Medicare Advantage plans to participate.

The goal of this legislation is to ease the prior-authorization burden on services that are routinely approved and are not likely to be overutilized.

This bill requires real time decisions for a list of services that the Department of Health and Human Services designates as routinely approved.

Plans would be required to provide reports on prior authorization approval rates for common prior authorization requests.

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