Part of: What was denied

A way to browse

Each kind of no has an answer.
Find the one for yours.

A denial for a drug is fought differently from a denial for an emergency room visit or a coding mistake. Pick what was refused to see the arguments, the evidence and the letters that fit.

Told it is "not medically necessary"? Start here.

Tools for this step

4 tools

Free, no account, nothing leaves your browser.

  • Drug exception planner

    Find the right request for a drug denial: formulary exception, step therapy exception, tier or quantity exception.

    Tool

  • Mental health parity self-check

    See whether your mental health or substance use denial raises a parity question, and get the request to send.

    Tool

  • Network exception builder

    Build a request to cover out-of-network care at in-network cost when the network cannot provide what you need.

    Tool

  • Surprise bill checker

    See whether the federal No Surprises Act may protect you from an out-of-network bill, with three plain steps, a phone script and two letters.

    Tool

Start with

22 guides

22 guides in this area

  • Guide

    Equipment, home health and therapy limits

    What to do when a plan denies medical equipment, home health care or therapy visits, or says you used up a visit limit. Also what Medicare says about care that maintains your condition.

  • Guide

    Experimental or investigational

    Your plan says a treatment is experimental, investigational or unproven. Learn how to use the plan's own definition and how to bring evidence and your doctor's judgment.

  • Guide

    Hospital stay denials

    A plan may deny a hospital admission, cut a stay short, or call you an outpatient under observation. Here is what to do, including Medicare's fast appeal for discharges and the childbirth stay rule.

Letters, checklists and programs

12 items
  • Surprise bill response

    How to check whether the No Surprises Act protects you from an unexpected out-of-network bill, who to ask to fix it, and where to complain.

    Checklist

  • Ask for the parity comparison for a mental health denial

    A written request for the plan's mental health parity comparison and the medical necessity criteria behind a mental health or substance use denial, so you can test the decision against the parity law.

    Letter or script

  • Medicare drug plan exception request

    Ask your Medicare drug plan to cover a drug that is not on its list, or to charge a lower cost-sharing tier. Your prescriber must support the request.

    Letter or script

  • Off-label or experimental use letter (for your clinician)

    A letter in your clinician's voice that responds to an experimental, investigational or off-label denial with the clinical reasons and the evidence for this patient. Every clinical statement is a blank for the clinician to complete.

    Letter or script

  • Out-of-network necessity letter (for your clinician)

    A letter in your clinician's voice explaining why in-network care cannot meet the patient's needs, so the plan should cover an out-of-network provider. Every clinical and network statement is a blank for the clinician to complete.

    Letter or script

  • Phone script: pharmacy rejection

    What to ask at the pharmacy counter and then your plan when a prescription is rejected, so you learn why and what to send.

    Letter or script

More letters and checklists 1
  • Step therapy exception letter (for your clinician)

    A letter in your clinician's voice asking the plan to skip a required first-try drug because it has failed, is unsafe or is otherwise not right for you. Every clinical statement is a blank for the clinician to complete.

    Letter or script

Programs and services 5

Run by other organizations. We summarize them and say when we last checked.

  • Program or service

    FAIR Health Consumer cost estimates

    A nonprofit's tools for estimating what providers charge and what insurers pay in your area, plus insurance basics. Useful evidence in an out-of-network payment dispute. It does not file appeals or negotiate for you.

    From FAIR Health

  • Program or service

    Legal Action Center free legal help in New York

    Free legal help for New Yorkers with substance use disorders or mental health care needs, including insurance barriers to treatment. Nationwide help is limited to certain addiction-medication cases.

    From Legal Action Center

  • Program or service

    National Alliance on Mental Illness guide to insurance denials

    A plain explanation of why mental health care is denied, five signs of a possible parity violation, and a link to a longer appeals guide written with The Kennedy Forum. Information only.

    From National Alliance on Mental Illness

  • Program or service

    No Surprises Help Desk: surprise bill questions and complaints

    The federal help desk for questions or complaints that a plan, provider or facility broke the surprise billing rules. It reviews the complaint and may refer it to another federal or state enforcer.

    From Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services

  • Program or service

    Parity Registry appeal support for mental health and addiction care

    A step-by-step guide to fighting a denial of mental health, eating disorder or addiction care under the federal parity law, with a complaint registry and a place to share your story. It does not file appeals for you.

    From The Kennedy Forum

Your next step may connect

  • Build your case

    Collect the file, the records, your doctor's support and the plan's own rules, then write it up.

  • Appeal

    File the appeal, get a fast decision when health is at risk, and take it outside the plan if it says no again.