I am a doctor but experienced how badly prior authorization affects patients with my daughter’s experience. She was prescribed a very expensive medicine, which is covered by insurance. The medication is required to be filled (picked up) within a week. Our insurance prior authorization process takes longer than a week. Hence, insurance didn’t cover the medication cost. All the insurance company had to do to save money was to slow-walk the process. I paid cash for the medicine with a GoodRX coupon. I live in an impoverished area, and I know that none of my patients’ families could afford to do that.