The American Gastroenterological Association and 17 patient advocacy organizations have submitted a letter to UnitedHealthcare calling on the payer to reverse its advance notification program, which went into effect earlier this year.
According to the letter, GI professionals are worried that the new policy "threatens to disrupt its 27.4 million commercial beneficiaries’ access to virtually all endoscopies and colonoscopies."
The letter details the impact of both the advance notification program and the "gold card" prior authorization program, which the insurer plans to launch at the beginning of 2024.
"By requiring GI practices to spend hours providing UHC with data duplicative of what is already provided in claims forms, UHC’s advance notification program has created major administrative burdens that slow down patient care. The insurance giant’s 2024 prior authorization program is expected to cause even more delays for the critical GI diagnostic and surveillance procedures that save lives and are crucial to millions of Americans," the letter reads.
The letter alleges that UHC has been "non-receptive" to concerns brought by the AGA and other patient advocacy groups since June.
"To date, it has ignored outreach from the gastroenterology community to ensure patient care will not be disrupted. With approximately one month before UHC’s timeline of 'early 2024,' both physicians and patients have been left in the dark about the insurer’s prior authorization plans," the groups contend.
Becker's has reached out to UnitedHealthcare for comment and will update this story if more information becomes available.