Faced with shrinking profit margins and higher medical costs, the nation’s largest health insurers are accelerating the adoption of artificial intelligence across their sprawling operations, promising a wave of automation designed to cut expenses and increase productivity.
References to AI were part of the storyline during insurers’ calls with Wall Street analysts in the first weeks of 2026.
UnitedHealth Group executives have pledged to lean heavily on technology to cut costs by $1 billion this year, with CEO Steven Helmsley saying “we are clearly embarking on a new technological era” in health care.
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