Hugh O’Toole has spent his career exposing hidden fees and inefficiencies — and now he’s helping employers take control of their benefits spend before it breaks the bank.
Hugh would be far better positioned to answer that question than me. But as a journalist, my own thinking is that the simplest answer is a long history of federal government inefficiency, endless red tape and incompetence, which is playing out in real time right now with DOGE. Consumers unfortunately have a choice between a status quo teeming with corporate greed and roadblocks or what I just described. I don't know the answer to this, but I sure do hope the experts figure this out.
Hugh's point was made within the context of conducting a site-of-care analysis to ensure that medical procedures could be done in the most cost-effective manner.
While I'm not surprised a prior authorization requirement led to cost savings, I am a little surprised to hear prior authorizations mentioned in a positive light in Health Care Un-Covered given all of the past articles (especially in regards to medicare advantage) portraying them in a very negative light as a barrier to care.
Hugh would be far better positioned to answer that question than me. But as a journalist, my own thinking is that the simplest answer is a long history of federal government inefficiency, endless red tape and incompetence, which is playing out in real time right now with DOGE. Consumers unfortunately have a choice between a status quo teeming with corporate greed and roadblocks or what I just described. I don't know the answer to this, but I sure do hope the experts figure this out.
Hugh's point was made within the context of conducting a site-of-care analysis to ensure that medical procedures could be done in the most cost-effective manner.
While I'm not surprised a prior authorization requirement led to cost savings, I am a little surprised to hear prior authorizations mentioned in a positive light in Health Care Un-Covered given all of the past articles (especially in regards to medicare advantage) portraying them in a very negative light as a barrier to care.
Why not go to a single payer system that encompasses a single site of care approval approach.