The obvious motivation for requiring preapproval is to save insurers money. The fewer services they pay for, the more money they make.But health insurance experts argue there's more to PAs than just money.In the best case, PAs ensure patient care follows best practices and protect patients from potential harm from unnecessary treatment, according to Linda Bellgraph, vice president of education at the Endometriosis Association and a retired health insurance professional with more than four decades of industry experience. For example, to treat endometriosis, surgeons may recommend a hysterectomy, which may not always be appropriate or cost-effective.Farzana Rahman, R.Ph., an executive at Banjo Health, agreed that PAs are meant to ensure appropriate medication use based on expert guidelines, rather than starting patients on the newest (most expensive) drugs. Just because a drug is new doesn't mean that it's best for everybody with that disease, according to Rahman.Often, though, PAs create delays or barriers to care. For example, certain birth control options, medications for skin infections, cancer treatments, arthritis medications or treatment for pain associated with endometriosis may require prior authorization — making the drugs harder to access, which means it takes longer for women to get the care they need.