UnitedHealthcare Eliminates Most Medical Prior Authorizations, Accelerates Payments for Key Rural Care Hospitals and Providers Nationwide

UnitedHealth ends prior authorization, speeds payments for rural providers

UnitedHealth (UNH) ends most prior authorizations and speeds rural provider payments up to 50%, expanding access via hub-and-spoke care models. Read more here.

UnitedHealthcare Eliminates Most Medical Prior Authorizations, Accelerates Payments for Key Rural Care Hospitals and Providers Nationwide

-(BUSINESS WIRE)--Apr 20, 2026-

UnitedHealth to expand rural payment acceleration pilot program

UnitedHealth Group announced plans to expand its Rural Payment Acceleration Pilot to reduce Medicare Advantage payment processing times for rural hospitals to less than 15 days, on average. The company commits to immediately extend accelerated payments to additional independent rural hospitals in Alabama, Arkansas, Kentucky, Virginia and West Virginia and by fall 2026 plans to expand the program to approximately 1,500 rural hospitals and associa…