A Meaningful Shift: Administration & Payers Unite to Reduce Prior Authorizations

Voluntary Industry Prior Authorization Commitments: Empty Promises, Little Accountability

AHIP, the national trade association representing the health insurance industry, and the Blue Cross Blue Shield Association recently announced a set of “voluntary commitments” to “streamline” prior authorization and “improve patient outcomes.”  Major insurers including Aetna, Centene, Cigna, Elevance Health, Humana, and UnitedHealthcare have signed on. These commitments appear to put more guardrails on how insurers use prior authorization. In re…

A Meaningful Shift: Administration & Payers Unite to Reduce Prior Authorizations

By Alix Goss, Senior Consultant, Point-of-Care Partners LinkedIn: Point-of-Care Partners LinkedIn: Alexandra (Alix) Goss On June 23, 2025, Health & Human Services (HHS) Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) Administrator Mehmet Oz, announced a significant agreement with major payers to reduce the volume and burden of prior authorizations (PA) across commercial, Medicare Advantage, Medicaid, and Mark…