Under-fire UnitedHealthcare, the largest health insurer in the United States, announced Tuesday it will eliminate prior authorization requirements for nearly a third of the medical services currently requiring them, a move aimed at streamlining patient care and reducing administrative friction for doctors.
The move comes amid strong criticism of UnitedHealthcare and other insurers for making the process of accessing care difficult for customers.
The reduction, which the company expects to complete by the end of 2026, will apply to a range of procedures including echocardiograms, chiropractic care, select outpatient surgeries, and certain outpatient therapies. The insurer plans to publish a comprehensive list of the affected services on its provider portal before the changes take effect.
Prior authorization, a process where doctors must seek insurer approval before proceeding with treatment, has long been a source of tension in the healthcare system. Both patients and physicians have criticized the practice for causing treatment delays and creating significant paperwork burdens.
UnitedHealthcare CEO Tim Noel told the Wall Street Journal that the move serves as an early signal of how artificial intelligence can reform the complex financial systems within healthcare. By utilizing AI-backed data analysis, the company intends to identify “outlier” healthcare providers who exhibit unusual usage patterns rather than requiring blanket approvals for all providers across entire procedure categories. Noel emphasized that this new technology will not be used to make decisions regarding the denial of care.
“My hope is that patients and providers experience something a lot different, a lot less abrasive,” Noel said in a statement.
The announcement comes as the healthcare industry faces heightened public scrutiny following the 2024 killing of former UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson, an event that sparked intense debate over insurance practices.
Industry peers, including CVS Health’s Aetna and Cigna Group, have also recently pledged to ease authorization requirements to address growing backlash.
While prior authorization currently affects only about 2% of UnitedHealthcare’s total claims, the sheer scale of the insurer means this involves millions of annual reviews. Currently, the company approves approximately 92% of these requests, with an average turnaround time of less than 24 hours.
In addition to the 30% cut, UnitedHealthcare is working to standardize its authorization process across its Medicare, Medicaid, and employer-sponsored plans.
The company expects more than 70% of its remaining prior authorizations to follow this new standardized process by the end of this year.
These reforms follow other recent initiatives by the insurer, including the expansion of a “gold card” program that allows high-performing physician groups to bypass certain requirements, and a program to exempt many rural hospitals from authorization hurdles.
UnitedHealth Group, the parent company of the insurer, recently reported first-quarter 2026 earnings that exceeded Wall Street expectations and raised its full-year profit outlook.
The latest development regarding the company put into further context the extent of the issues facing traditional healthcare companies, which are struggling to retain the confidence of the wider public.
As premiums continue to rise, many Americans are turning to health sharing ministries as an alternative to traditional insurance. Sharing ministries allow those with a common faith to group together to share medical costs, offering what is usually a cheaper alternative.