U.S. Sen. Jon Ossoff is calling on Congress to take action against insurance practices that delay or deny medically necessary health care, saying patients across the country are facing harmful barriers to treatment.
In a letter to Senate leaders, Ossoff said many Americans—including Georgians—are being denied care despite paying high insurance premiums.
“No American should be delayed or denied needed health care,” Ossoff wrote. “It is unacceptable that Americans, who are paying record premiums to insurers making record profits in the world’s richest country, are nevertheless denied medically necessary care.”
Ossoff specifically criticized the widespread use of prior authorization, a process requiring insurer approval before certain treatments or medications are provided. He said the practice has resulted in delays for critical care and, in some cases, the denial of life-saving medications.
“The abuse of ‘prior authorization’ practices has led to Georgians being denied life-saving medication and waiting months for the care they need—all at the whim of insurance companies,” he said. “This requires us to act in defense of our constituents’ health.”
A study from Johns Hopkins University cited by Ossoff found that prior authorization is associated with worsening health outcomes, including increased hospitalizations, longer hospital stays, and lower survival rates.
Additional data from KFF highlights the scale of the issue. Nearly all seniors enrolled in Medicare Advantage plans require prior authorization for some services, with more than four million requests denied in 2024. The group also reported approximately 85 million in-network claim denials under the Affordable Care Act that same year, with fewer than 1% of those denials appealed.
Ossoff is urging Senate leaders to advance legislation aimed at increasing accountability among insurance providers. He said proposals should require faster responses to authorization requests, prevent retroactive denials except in cases of fraud, and hold insurers responsible for improper denials of care.
Earlier this month, Ossoff also launched an inquiry into insurance practices with Mehmet Oz, administrator of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, focusing on delays affecting patient care.
In addition to this effort, Ossoff has supported several bipartisan initiatives, including measures to expand access to hearing devices for children, improve transparency in generic drug approvals, and reduce delays for Medicaid patients seeking specialized care.