Insurance Coverage, Physician Recommendations, and Access to Emerging Treatments

Abstract
THE INFLUENCE of insurance on access to health care, especially access to expensive specialist care and treatment, is a major concern.1-3 However, little is known about the spectrum of coverage across insurers or about the agreement between physician recommendations and insurer policies for specific therapies. These concerns are particularly important for emerging and semielective treatments related to quality of life (such as treatments for short stature, infertility, obesity, and aging4), in which consensus about optimal utilization may be lacking.