Health insurer Cigna Corp. will stop requiring that patients and doctors jump through extra hoops known as prior authorization to receive coverage of a medication to treat opioid addiction, under a settlement with New York state's Attorney General, the attorney general's office said.
Cigna is making the change nationwide after New York State Attorney General Eric Schneiderman requested information on the insurer's coverage policies “to address concerns about barriers to treatment,” Mr. Schneiderman's office said in a statement. Cigna required doctors to answer “numerous questions” about the patient and sometimes wait “several days” for coverage approval, the statement said.
