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Committee advances bill to set timelines, electronic process for insurance prior authorizations
Summary
Senate Bill 133, sponsored by Senator Jesse Bjorkman, was moved out of the Senate Finance Committee with fiscal notes and recommendations. The bill sets timelines and electronic processes for insurer prior authorization and grants the director of the Division of Insurance authority to monitor compliance.
The Alaska Senate Finance Committee on April 29 moved Senate Bill 133 (insurance prior authorizations) out of committee with attached fiscal notes and individual recommendations.
Senator Jesse Bjorkman, the bill's sponsor, told the committee the measure is intended to "rationalize" the process by which health insurers approve covered medical care. The bill requires clear timelines so patients do not face extended delays, calls for clear communication among insurers, providers and patients, and encourages use of electronic data transmission through an insurer portal to expedite decisions. It also gives the director of the Division of Insurance authority to monitor compliance with the system, Bjorkman said.
Bjorkman described the bill as the product of multiple meetings since the previous spring with hospitals, health-care providers and insurers. No amendments were received by the committee; Senator Stedman moved the bill from committee "with attached fiscal notes and individual recommendations." The committee recorded no objection and the motion carried by voice.
The transcript does not include a roll-call tally. The committee's action was procedural approval to send SB133 forward with fiscal documentation and recommendations; the text of the bill and specific timeline durations were not recited in the committee hearing recorded in the transcript.
