On Wednesday, Governor Kevin Stitt signed House Bill 3190 into law, which significantly modifies prior authorization processes to better guarantee that patients in Oklahoma receive the care they require.
“We are excited to implement these improvements to eliminate the barriers caused by prior authorizations, allowing our providers to deliver better care to our patients and achieve better health outcomes,” Kari Webber, executive vice president of Oklahoma Academy of Family Physicians stated. “We extend our deepest gratitude to the bill authors for their efforts and to the governor for signing the measure.”
Rep. Carl Newton (R-Cherokee), Sen. Jessica Garvin (R-Duncan), and 26 other co-sponsors introduced HB 3190 to improve the prior authorization process’s stability and transparency.
The new law will enable state physicians to treat patients in a timely manner while reducing the burden of administrative responsibilities.
Family doctors play a special role and offer a powerful voice in support of legislative solutions. Collaborating with the authors of the bills to develop policy solutions that allocate less time-consuming administrative duties so that professionals can devote more time and attention to their patients, so benefiting both parties.
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HB 3190’s requirements are as follows:
- Prior authorization policies ought to be posted on websites that patients and providers can access.
- Changes that will impact people with chronic diseases must be communicated to them at least sixty days in advance.
- Physicians with similar disciplines or those with comparable training will evaluate appeals.
- When a request is urgent, health insurers have seven days to respond; for non-urgent requests, they have 72 hours.
The Oklahoma Academy of Family Physicians thanks the state legislature, health plans, providers, hospitals, and all others who supported HB 3190, saying it cleared all hearings with zero “no” votes.
When insurance policies begin the new coverage period on January 1, 2025, the law will take effect.
