Prescriptions for heart failure medications take two to six times longer to fill if insurance companies require prior authorization, a new study found.
The study, published in JACC: Advances, used electronic health records, pharmacy fill and neighborhood-level data from a large academic health system. They identified 2,183 patients with heart failure and a new prescription for angiotensin receptor neprilysin inhibitors or sodium glucose cotransporter 2 inhibitors between April 1, 2021, and April 30, 2023.
Of the study participants, 12.2% had a prior authorization requirement for ARNI and 14.3% for SGLT2i. These patients tended to be younger, Black or Hispanic, have non-Medicare insurance and had fewer comorbidities.
Researchers found patients with prior authorization requirements took 2.02 times longer to fill ARNI and 6.75 times longer to fill SGLT2i. They were also 2.23 times more likely to never fill their SGLT2i prescription.
Over 80% of eligible heart failure patients are not prescribed these medications, and among those who are, only 30% to 50% of patients take the medications regularly.
