VARNIUMAI risk defense / everyday bearings

COST / PLAN METRICS

Pick a Plan by Its Denial Rate, Not Its Brochure

Impacted payers now publish prior-authorisation approval and denial rates. Reading them before you enrol, or before you appeal, changes which plan you choose and how hard you push.

Start here

The free tool below runs entirely in this browser — no account, nothing stored or transmitted. Redact anything you would not want kept before you type it.

Open the companion tool →

Why published metrics are a consumer tool

A plan with a high denial rate and a low appeal-overturn rate is describing how it behaves. That description is more useful than any marketing page.

The metrics also give you a benchmark: if your plan's published average is two days and your request has waited ten, you have something concrete to cite.

The protocol

  1. Download the plan's published prior-authorisation metrics and note the reporting period.
  2. Record the standard and urgent decision averages and the denial and appeal outcomes.
  3. Compare the same figures across the plans available to you.
  4. Keep the figures with your own case, and cite them if your request runs long.
  5. Re-check before the next enrolment period, because the numbers move.

What the tool does

Build a payer denial-metrics comparison It runs locally in this browser and sends nothing.

Limit first: This is a preparation aid, not medical, legal or insurance advice. It cannot force a payer to pay, guarantee an appeal outcome, or tell you which care is right for you.

Open the companion tool →

Cost and free path

Cost: Free: one complete run in this browser, no account. Optional $4 one-time unlock allows unlimited runs of this tool on this browser. The free path and safety guidance never require payment.

Rule status (mixed route): Status, 2026-10-03: public prior-authorisation metrics reporting began 2026-03-31 for impacted payers; HHS OIG found 13% of Medicare Advantage prior-authorisation and 18% of payment denials met coverage rules, with most appealed prior-auth denials overturned.

Automated decision this documents: payer prior-authorisation denial behaviour

Free path, in order (no cost):

  1. The plan's own published prior-authorisation metrics page
  2. SHIP or your state's free insurance counselling service
  3. Medicare's plan-finder and complaint routes

What this cannot do: It cannot force a payer to pay, guarantee an appeal outcome, or tell you which care is right for you.

Sources checked 2026-10-03 · source bank reviewed against the live pages listed in metadata.

One human next step

Bring the comparison to an enrolment counselling session, or use it in an appeal: cite the plan's own published turnaround next to your request's dates.

Research log and safety checks

AI-assist path: not used for a verdict. This builder organises the reader's own documents and names an independent source; it does not infer authenticity, eligibility, or legal rights. §6.9/§6.10/§6.11 disclosed in the batch report; §6.12 status line carried in metadata as `status_line`.

§0.5 protection result: category is insurance-and-medical-costs; crisis-adjacent: no; fear/urgency/scarcity toolkit used: no. The protective function is free and the paid feature is convenience only.

Related dispatches

Pairs with the same protection bar: a free complete reading, an optional convenience unlock, and no fear-framing.