Health insurance companies and agencies require providers to request and receive prior authorization for all sorts of treatments before they will agree to cover the cost for the patient. A person living with serious mental illness has unique experiences, including, for example, facing psychosis, which is not common in other forms of mental illness. Doctors have seen prior authorization processes stretch for weeks, during which time a patient’s worsening symptoms push them away from treatment as their symptoms may worsen. We have seen the prior authorization process used to press “fail first” alternative medicines on my patients before they approve the treatment we know will work. Any delay in providing appropriate medicines to the patients we serve may further compromise their health and wellbeing.

Source: Los Angeles Times August 04, 2022 05:04 UTC