AGA leaders continue to raise concerns about UnitedHealthcare’s (UHC) Advance Notification Program (ANP) and proposed “Gold Card” prior authorization program (planned for 2024), which will erect further barriers to care for patients who require colonoscopies and endoscopies.
This week, AGA President Dr. Barbara Jung wrote UHC’s Chief Medical Officer and Executive Vice President Rhonda Randall, expressing gastroenterologists’ worries around three areas of concern:
Additionally, Dr. Fola May stressed how UHC’s policy shift will exacerbate health care inequities, particularly for patients of color in a new opinion article in Capitol Weekly.
At a time when stakeholders throughout the health care ecosystem should be working to increase awareness of and expand access to potentially life-saving endoscopies and colonoscopies, UHC’s abrupt policy shift will do just the opposite. Instead of addressing health care inequities, the ill-defined Gold Card program’s prior authorization requirements will intensify them.
