Prior auths, step therapy, and AI: how doctors lose their professional sovreignty

Cut & Tell · Sep 10, 2026 · 42m · transcript

Every week, doctors spend 13 hours fighting insurance companies just for permission to treat their patients — and now, under a new Medicare pilot, some of those decisions are being handed to AI. In this episode, Liz digs into prior authorization: where it came from, how it quietly stripped doctors of their professional sovereignty, and why the newest version of this system might be the most alarming yet.

📚 Referenced: The Social Transformation of American Medicine by Paul Starr

Host: Liz Malphrus, MD

Connect with Liz: https://www.hippocratic-collective.com/members/liz-malphrus-md

IG…