DPC to Congress: Patients Deserve Care—Not Insurance Red Tape

In light of hearings on the cost of healthcare being held by the U.S. House Energy & Commerce Health Subcommittee today, the Domestic Policy Caucus is calling on Congress to focus on red tape and bureaucracy that hinders patients from getting the healthcare they need.

Health insurance is supposed to provide peace of mind when illness strikes. Yet for far too many Americans, coverage comes with a maze of administrative obstacles that delay treatment, increase costs, and leave patients wondering whether they will receive the care their physicians recommend.

Most Americans believe insurer prior authorization requirements are a burden, and many say insurance red tape is the biggest challenge they face when they are sick and navigating the healthcare system. These hurdles often require physicians to obtain insurer approval before patients can receive medications, procedures, or other medically necessary services—even when those services are ultimately approved.

This system creates unnecessary delays for patients while diverting physicians and healthcare staff away from patient care and toward paperwork. If insurers routinely approve a particular treatment more than 90 percent of the time, policymakers should ask why that service remains subject to prior authorization in the first place. Streamlining or eliminating these requirements for consistently approved services would reduce waste, lower administrative costs, and help patients receive timely care.

Greater insurer accountability is essential. Health plans should be transparent about denial rates, approval timelines, and the clinical evidence supporting their coverage decisions. Patients deserve clear explanations when care is delayed or denied, and providers should not be forced to spend countless hours appealing decisions that ultimately prove medically appropriate.

Healthcare affordability is about more than premiums and deductibles. Administrative barriers imposed by insurers carry real costs—in delayed diagnoses, postponed treatments, higher provider overhead, and unnecessary frustration for patients and families.

A healthcare system that works for patients must hold every stakeholder accountable. That includes insurers. Reducing unnecessary administrative barriers, improving transparency, and ensuring timely access to medically necessary care are practical reforms that would strengthen the healthcare system while putting patients—not paperwork—at the center of healthcare.

That’s why the Domestic Policy Caucus is pleased to see the U.S. House Energy & Commerce Health Subcommittee turn its attention toward healthcare costs. We hope the focus lands where it belongs.

Read more in this insightful column by Sally Pipes of the Pacific Research Institute