← All Medicare Advantage insurers
UnitedHealthcare: Medicare Advantage denial & appeal rates
UnitedHealth Group / UnitedHealthcare · 26% of MA enrollment
In 2024, UnitedHealthcare denied about 12.6% of the prior-authorization requests it reviewed. When members appealed, 78.8% of those denials were overturned — yet only 12.0% of denials were appealed at all. ~81% of appealed MA prior-authorization denials are overturned, so a denial is rarely the final word.
UnitedHealthcare’s posted coverage policies
Insurers must post the medical policies they use to decide coverage. These are the ones most relevant to lab, imaging, and facility denials — quote the matching policy in your appeal.
UnitedHealthcare’s CMS prior-authorization metrics posting →
Denied by UnitedHealthcare? Don’t pay a bill you may not owe.
Appeals win far more often than people expect. See how the deadlines and the process work, or fast-track a rehab/nursing discharge.
Insurer / contract level. Medicare does not publish per-plan denial rates. Rates are 2024 prior-authorization determinations; data as of July 2026. Notes: Highest denial rate of the 6 firms. KFF PROSE/chart-title cite 12.8% denial (vs 12.6% in chart dataset) - flagged. CY2025 posting rollup: 97.5% of medical claims need no PA; 95.4% of PAs approved incl. after appeals; ~24hr avg (MA+DSNP). Informational only — not medical, legal, or billing advice.