Spravato Induction Interrupted by a Prior Authorization misstep — Feeling Really Defeated Right Now
Rant / vent because I’m honestly at a loss right now.
I’ve been doing Spravato treatment and tomorrow morning was supposed to be my 6th session. So far I’ve done 5 sessions and overall the experience has actually been positive and I was just starting to notice some real progress.
Tonight around 5:30 PM I got a text from someone from my clinic saying they noticed my prior authorization apparently expired on 5/16, and because of that they had to remove me from tomorrow’s schedule so I wouldn’t get stuck with a massive bill. She was apologetic and admitted this should not have happened. She also said they’re trying to get the insurance team involved immediately.
What’s frustrating is that during intake they specifically emphasized how important consistency is during induction. They literally told me to make sure I had no vacations planned, no major conflicts, and that I needed to commit to the schedule because missing sessions early on can reduce effectiveness and even affect insurance approvals. They made it sound very serious.
So I did exactly that. I structured other appointments and my schedule around these treatments.
The confusing part is I thought the authorization already covered the initial 8-session induction period. I remember seeing the authorization date ending on 5/16 when I was approved, but I assumed the clinic was tracking that in the background because the sessions themselves were already scheduled past that date. Nobody ever told me “hey, your authorization expires midway through induction and we’ll need to renew it.” With other treatments I’ve had, like Zepbound, the office proactively warns patients ahead of time when a PA is close to expiring.
Now because they’re closed for Memorial Day, if this isn’t fixed quickly I could end up with an 11-day gap between sessions while still in the induction phase. That’s the part freaking me out the most because I’m only halfway through treatment and was finally starting to feel some benefit.
The receptionist I spoke to was actually very understanding and admitted it appears this may have been a “clinic oversight.” They’re trying to get me in Saturday if they can resolve it in time, which I appreciate, but I’m still just really upset this happened in the first place.
I’m trying not to catastrophize, but it’s hard when the clinic stressed from day one how important consistency was, only for the interruption to come from the administrative side rather than me missing sessions.
Has anyone else had something like this happen during Spravato induction? How badly did the gap affect your progress? or just any words of reassurance would be appreciated. I honestly can’t believe a clinic would forget and do this to someone. they’ve been great up until this, the treatment has been making me feel better and I just hope they can rectify this for me.