In "Her Health Insurer Delayed Her MRI – As the Cancer Spread" (NC Health News, May 8, 2023), NC Health News discusses the House Bill 649 which is awaiting consideration by the N.C. state Senate after passing, with an unanimous approval, the N.C. House on April 26. The bill would impose time limits on prior authorization reviews. Specifically, the insurers must make a decision about urgent medical services within 24 hours after receiving the case and about non-urgent medical services within 48 hours.
The article discusses one of our clients Kathleen Valentini as an example of the prior authorization delaying crucial medical services. After she felt a pain in her hip, she went to see a doctor. Her doctor ordered an MRI to examine the pain. However, her insurer didn't authorize the MRI for 41 days. The MRI eventually revealed an aggressive bone cancer and the doctors had to amputate her leg, hip and pelvis. They told Kathleen and her family that "if she had come in even a month earlier, they probably could have treated the cancer using only chemotherapy."
Partner Steve Cohen is the attorney for Kathleen Valentini and her family.
To read the full article, click on the link below,
Her Health Insurer Delayed Her MRI – As the Cancer Spread | NC Health News
