A key legislative committee passed a resolution Tuesday barring the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services from spending money on the controversial preauthorization exam.
In an amendment added to the Department of Health and Human Services’ sweeping spending bill after a unanimous vote, the House Appropriations Committee determined that “none of the funds made available in this or any other legislation” should be used to implement the Wasted and Inadequate Service Reduction (WISeR) model, or another model that would add preauthorization to traditional Medicare.
The 2027 spending bill, which will undergo further parliamentary review for final passage, was announced in its first form on June 4.
The WISeR model, announced in June 2025, implements Medicare’s “streamlined” pre-authorization process and relies on artificial intelligence. The program was rolled out as part of the federal government’s broader efforts to root out fraud, waste and abuse.
CMS announced WISeR just days after receiving significant commitments from insurance companies to ease the burden of prior authorization.
WISeR received a swift and negative response from health care provider groups such as the American Hospital Association and the American Medical Association. It also faces opposition in Congress, with Democratic lawmakers introducing a bill in May to overturn the plan.
Under the bill, lawmakers would call for the Congressional Review Act, arguing that the model should have been submitted to Congress for review before implementation.
Through the proposed amendments, the committee added that it was “expressing concerns” that this model would “result in burdens and delays for patients and health care providers.”
“The Committee believes that any proposal to impose prior authorization requirements on traditional Medicare should be subject to strong Congressional oversight and a transparent evaluation of its impact on beneficiary access to care, provider burdens, and program costs,” according to the amendment.
According to the amendment, the committee would ask CMS to provide details of the pilot’s impact and a justification in Congress in fiscal year 2028 about how the agency selected the states to participate.
