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In our first in-person Advocacy Day on Capitol Hill since 2019, AGA leaders and patient advocates from 22 total states met with House and Senate offices to educate members of Congress and their staff about policies affecting GI patient care such as prior authorization and step therapy. Federal research funding and Medicare reimbursement were also on the agenda.
In the meetings, the patient shared their stories of living with various gastrointestinal diseases, including ulcerative colitis and Crohn’s disease, and the struggles they’ve gone through to get treatments approved by their insurers. AGA physicians shared the provider perspective of how policies like prior authorization negatively impact practices. According to a 2023 AGA member survey, 95% of respondents say that prior authorization restrictions have impacted patient access to clinically appropriate treatments and patient clinical outcomes and 84% described that the burden associated with prior authorization policies have increased “significantly” or “somewhat” over the last 5 years. AGA’s advocacy day came not long after UnitedHealthcare’s announcement of a new “Gold Card” prior authorization policy to be implemented in 2024, which will impact most colonoscopies and endoscopies for its 27 million commercial beneficiaries. The group expressed serious concerns about the proposed policy to lawmakers. 
“It was a wonderful and empowering experience to share my personal story with my Representative/Senator and know that they were really listening to my concerns about insurer overreach,” said Aaron Blocker, a Crohn’s disease patient and advocate. “I hope Congress acts swiftly on passing prior authorization reform, so no more patients are forced to live in pain while they wait for treatments to be approved.” As gastroenterologists, too much administrative time is spent submitting onerous prior authorization requests on a near daily basis. We hope Congress takes our concerns seriously and comes together to rein in prior authorization.
AGA thanks the patient and physician advocates who participated in this year’s Advocacy Day and looks forward to continuing our work to ensure timely access to care.
In our first in-person Advocacy Day on Capitol Hill since 2019, AGA leaders and patient advocates from 22 total states met with House and Senate offices to educate members of Congress and their staff about policies affecting GI patient care such as prior authorization and step therapy. Federal research funding and Medicare reimbursement were also on the agenda.
In the meetings, the patient shared their stories of living with various gastrointestinal diseases, including ulcerative colitis and Crohn’s disease, and the struggles they’ve gone through to get treatments approved by their insurers. AGA physicians shared the provider perspective of how policies like prior authorization negatively impact practices. According to a 2023 AGA member survey, 95% of respondents say that prior authorization restrictions have impacted patient access to clinically appropriate treatments and patient clinical outcomes and 84% described that the burden associated with prior authorization policies have increased “significantly” or “somewhat” over the last 5 years. AGA’s advocacy day came not long after UnitedHealthcare’s announcement of a new “Gold Card” prior authorization policy to be implemented in 2024, which will impact most colonoscopies and endoscopies for its 27 million commercial beneficiaries. The group expressed serious concerns about the proposed policy to lawmakers.
“It was a wonderful and empowering experience to share my personal story with my Representative/Senator and know that they were really listening to my concerns about insurer overreach,” said Aaron Blocker, a Crohn’s disease patient and advocate. “I hope Congress acts swiftly on passing prior authorization reform, so no more patients are forced to live in pain while they wait for treatments to be approved.” As gastroenterologists, too much administrative time is spent submitting onerous prior authorization requests on a near daily basis. We hope Congress takes our concerns seriously and comes together to rein in prior authorization.
AGA thanks the patient and physician advocates who participated in this year’s Advocacy Day and looks forward to continuing our work to ensure timely access to care.
In our first in-person Advocacy Day on Capitol Hill since 2019, AGA leaders and patient advocates from 22 total states met with House and Senate offices to educate members of Congress and their staff about policies affecting GI patient care such as prior authorization and step therapy. Federal research funding and Medicare reimbursement were also on the agenda.
In the meetings, the patient shared their stories of living with various gastrointestinal diseases, including ulcerative colitis and Crohn’s disease, and the struggles they’ve gone through to get treatments approved by their insurers. AGA physicians shared the provider perspective of how policies like prior authorization negatively impact practices. According to a 2023 AGA member survey, 95% of respondents say that prior authorization restrictions have impacted patient access to clinically appropriate treatments and patient clinical outcomes and 84% described that the burden associated with prior authorization policies have increased “significantly” or “somewhat” over the last 5 years. AGA’s advocacy day came not long after UnitedHealthcare’s announcement of a new “Gold Card” prior authorization policy to be implemented in 2024, which will impact most colonoscopies and endoscopies for its 27 million commercial beneficiaries. The group expressed serious concerns about the proposed policy to lawmakers.
“It was a wonderful and empowering experience to share my personal story with my Representative/Senator and know that they were really listening to my concerns about insurer overreach,” said Aaron Blocker, a Crohn’s disease patient and advocate. “I hope Congress acts swiftly on passing prior authorization reform, so no more patients are forced to live in pain while they wait for treatments to be approved.” As gastroenterologists, too much administrative time is spent submitting onerous prior authorization requests on a near daily basis. We hope Congress takes our concerns seriously and comes together to rein in prior authorization.
AGA thanks the patient and physician advocates who participated in this year’s Advocacy Day and looks forward to continuing our work to ensure timely access to care.