In my job as a medical assistant at ECMC, I have witnessed the struggles of patients navigating the unnecessarily complex health care delivery system. One of the most frustrating and at times heartbreaking duties of my job is to field calls from patients whose insurance companies require prior authorization for their life-sustaining prescriptions or medical tests. Currently there are hundreds of insurance plans with different requirements and processes to obtain these prior approvals.

Read the full letter at the Buffalo News here.