(The Guardian) – A little-known provision in the Affordable Care Act allows patients to ask state-run panels to review decisions made by health insurance providers.

When insurance twice refused to cover a nearly $800,000-a-year drug that Paxton Pope’s doctor believed could dramatically reduce his frequent seizures, his family initially braced for a serious medical setback.

Then the Popes, of Davidson, North Carolina, learned about a little-known provision in the Affordable Care Act that allows asking an outside state-run panel to review the insurer’s decision — a move that led to the denial ultimately being overturned.

In the few months since then, access to the drug has already transformed the 13-year-old’s life, according to his mother, Maggie Pope. (Read More)