has announced a sweeping initiative to end the burdensome practice of insurance pre-authorization that has long frustrated patients and doctors alike. The announcement, made after a high-profile meeting with the nation’s largest health insurers, signals a dramatic shift in how Americans will access medical care, with promises of faster treatment, less bureaucracy, and improved patient outcomes.
Pre-authorization is an insurance process that requires doctors and patients to obtain insurer approval before certain tests, treatments, or medications are covered. Intended as a cost-control measure, it has become a top complaint in American healthcare, often delaying or denying care and creating mountains of paperwork for providers.

At the June 23 roundtable, Kennedy secured commitments from major insurers—including UnitedHealthcare, Aetna, Cigna, Humana, Blue Cross Blue Shield, and Kaiser Permanente—to overhaul their pre-authorization systems. Key elements of the pledge include:Dr. Mehmet Oz, Administrator of the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, called the current system "a pox on the system," noting that these reforms could eliminate "tens of billions of dollars of administrative waste".

While Kennedy’s announcement is historic, experts caution that pre-authorization will not disappear entirely. Harvard Medical School’s Dr. Adam Gaffney noted the changes are “incremental,” aimed at streamlining rather than abolishing pre-authorization. Still, with insurers covering 257 million Americans pledging to reform, the impact could be substantial.