The nation’s major health insurers are promising to scale back and improve a widely despised practice that leads to care delays and complications.

UnitedHealthcare, CVS Health’s Aetna and dozens of other insurers say they plan to reduce the scope of health care claims subject to prior authorization, standardize parts of the process and expand responses done in real time.

Prior authorization means insurers require approval before they’ll cover medical care, a prescription or a service like an imaging exam. Insurers say they do this to guard against care overuse and to make sure patients get the right treatment.

But doctors say the practice has grown in scope and complication, leading to frequent care delays.

Major health insurers have promised to overhaul the paperwork-laden process before, but little has changed.

Dr. Mehmet Oz, who now oversees the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, said on Monday that insurers are motivated to make something stick this time. ”

Insurers said Monday that they will standardize electronic prior authorization by the end of next year to help speed up the process. They will reduce the scope of claims subject to medical prior authorization, and they will honor the preapprovals of a previous insurer for a window of time after someone switches plans.

They also plan to expand the number of real-time responses, and they say they will ensure that claims denied for clinical reasons will continue to get reviews by “medical professionals.” But they made no promises that those reviewers will be in the same specialty as the treating doctor, a common complaint from physicians.

Insurers have promised to voluntarily make the changes, but Oz said that the Trump administration will look into regulations if progress isn’t made.

“You fix it or we’re going to fix it,” Oz said.

Nearly all customers of Medicare Advantage plans, the privately run version of the federal government’s Medicare program, need prior authorization for some services, particularly expensive care like hospital stays, the health policy research organization KFF found in a study of 2023 claims. The study also found that insurers denied about 6% of all requests.

Doctors say delays from requests that are eventually approved or coverage rejections can harm patients by giving a disease time to progress untreated. They also can spike anxiety in patients who want to know whether their tumor has stopped growing and if insurance will cover the scan.

The insurers say their promises will apply to coverage through work or the individual market as well as Medicare Advantage plans and the state and federally funded Medicaid program.

— Associated Press

Real estate brokerage Compass sues Zillow

Real estate brokerage company Compass has filed a lawsuit against Zillow, claiming the popular real estate website is refusing to accept home listings for properties that have been initially advertised for sale elsewhere.

In a filing with the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York, Compass claims that “Zillow has sought to rely on anticompetitive tactics to protect its monopoly and revenues in violation of the antitrust laws.”

Compass says that Zillow has implemented an exclusionary policy that says if a home seller and their real estate agent market their property off Zillow for more than one day, that Zillow and its allies, Redfin and eXp Realty, will ban that home from being listed on their search platforms.

Compass alleges that the ‘Zillow Ban’ was enacted to prevent rivals from competing against it and reduces homeowner choice.

A Zillow spokesperson said in a statement on Monday that the company believes the claims in the lawsuit are unfounded and that it will vigorously defend against them.

“Our focus remains on creating a level playing field that serves the best interests of everyone in the home buying and selling journey,” the spokesperson said.

Trump Media to buy back $400M in stock

President Donald Trump’s media company plans to buy back up to $400 million of its stock, which has lost 46% of their value this year.

Trump Media and Technology Group, which operates the Truth Social media platform, said Monday that the acquisition will improve its financial flexibility. It will retire the shares after they are purchased, meaning these particular shares can’t be reissued.

Companies can drive their stock higher by acquiring or removing the number of company shares outstanding. Trump is the largest stakeholder in Trump Media, with about 114 million shares.

Shares of Trump Media rose just over 2% Monday. But the shares appeared to peak about a month after the company went public in late March. Shares have been on a steady, downward trajectory since.

The company said early this year that it lost $400.9 million in 2024 and its annual revenue declined 12% to $3.6 million.

— From news services