Bipartisan bill introduced to speed up prior authorization in Medicare Advantage

Federal lawmakers introduced the Streamlining Medicare Advantage Prior Authorization Act. The bill targets Medicare Advantage (MA) plans, requiring them to provide real-time decisions on routine prior authorization requests and to honor approvals for a full plan year. The legislation cites MA plans' higher utilization of prior authorization compared to traditional Medicare. This bill enters a Congress with prior authorization reform as a rare point of bipartisan agreement. The outcome could force MA plan behavior changes. Track the bill's progress through committee for potential changes to payer workflows.