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Panel advances bill to limit prior-authorizations for serious mental‑illness drugs
Summary
The committee gave a due pass to a committee substitute of SB20 to reduce the frequency insurers can demand prior authorization for chronic maintenance drugs for serious mental illness; insurers, clinicians, and patient advocates debated safety, administrative burden, and whether an amendment shortening review periods should be adopted.
Senate Bill 20 (committee substitute) seeks to reduce barriers to prescription medications for people with serious mental illness by limiting how frequently insurers can require prior authorization for chronic maintenance drugs. The substitute adds serious mental illness to categories eligible for expedited review and sets a minimum interval between required prior authorizations for chronic maintenance drugs.
Sponsor remarks and agency testimony framed the bill as a patient-access measure: "Patients should not have to battle red tape to receive treatments that their doctors have already…
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