The California Medical Association (CMA)-sponsored bill on prior authorization reform is making its way through the California Assembly. CMA is asking physicians to contact their legislators today and urge them to vote yes on SB 598.

The bill — authored by Senator Nancy Skinner— would require health plans to institute a one-year prior authorization exemption for physicians who are practicing within the plan’s criteria 90% of the time. It would also grant treating physicians the right to have their appeal of a prior authorization denial conducted by a physician in the same or similar specialty.

Physicians have long been documenting insurers’ practice of denying necessary care to patients to boost heath plan profit margins and delay treatment. This is an imbalance that puts profit margins over treating patients and has contributed to delayed patient care, worse health outcomes, administrative burdens for providers and increased health care costs.

Click here to contact your legislator (sample letter provided).

SB 598 is part of CMA’s 2023 priority bill package and builds upon the momentum CMA built with a similar bill (SB 250) authored by then-Senator Richard Pan, M.D. in the prior legislative session