UnitedHealthcare to cut prior authorization requirements by 30%

UnitedHealthcare recently announced its plans to cut prior authorization requirements for 30% of services that previously required insurer approval by the end of 2026.

These services include select outpatient surgeries, some diagnostic tests like echocardiograms, and certain outpatient therapies and chiropractic care. UnitedHealthcare plans to release a full list of services on its provider portal at a later date.

Prior authorization is currently required for 2% of UnitedHealthcare medical services, according to the press release. The payer stated that it approves 92% of submitted prior authorization requests, typically within 24 hours, and has fewer prior authorization requirements than all other insurers within Medicare Advantage.

UnitedHealthcare was one of the many commercial payers that pledged in 2025 to work with CMS to streamline and improve their prior authorization processes. Since then, leading health plans have eliminated 11% of prior authorizations across a range of medical services, according to AHIP. CMS has also taken steps to improve current processes, such as working with electronic health record vendors to improve interoperability and proposing to expand electronic prior authorization to drugs.