Gilead acquiring CymaBay and its liver disease drug for $4.3 billion

The Biden administration moved Wednesday to force insurance companies to give specific reasons for denying coverage, and to speed up the pre-approval process in general.

The new rule applies to health insurance companies that offer Medicare, Medicaid, Children’s Health Insurance Program, and Obamacare plans. It concerns so-called prior authorization requests, and will require insurers to return urgent requests within 72 hours and non-urgent requests within seven days.

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The changes are a win for patients seeking care, but also for health care providers like hospitals and physicians. Executives from California-based Sutter Health, Massachusetts General Brigham, and others repeatedly cited the rise in insurer denials since the pandemic at last week’s J.P. Morgan Healthcare conference.

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