258 contracts reveal the spread behind 8 parent averages

258 Medicare Advantage contracts reveal how much prior authorization can vary within the same parent company.

We analyzed 258 CY2025 CMS-0057 contract reports across 8 large parent organizations and linked 257 of them to December 2025 enrollment, representing 26.3 million members.

Each gray bubble is a contract. Its size reflects enrollment. The green point is the parent average, weighted by enrollment.

The variation matters. Among UnitedHealth's 8 largest recovered contracts by enrollment, reported denial shares ranged from 7.3% to 23.4%. That spread is hidden by the 16.7% weighted parent average.

These are payer-reported percentages of standard medical prior-authorization requests classified as denied. They are not the share of members denied care. The parent values are enrollment-weighted, not request-weighted.

If you analyze Medicare Advantage plans, the parent average is useful for orientation. For this analysis, the H-contract is the unit.