UnitedHealthcare has expanded access to its generative AI assistant, Avery, to 21 million members across its commercial, Medicare, and Medicaid health plans.
The expansion comes seven months after the insurer introduced Avery in March, when it was available to approximately 6.5 million employer-sponsored plan members and 160,000 Medicare Advantage members. UnitedHealthcare had initially planned to reach 20.5 million members by the end of the year.
The assistant provides personalised information about health benefits, claims, and medical costs. During its initial rollout, UnitedHealthcare reported that members using Avery did not require assistance from a human representative 90% of the time.
The company confirmed the expanded availability in an October 5 update. Craig Kurtzweil, UnitedHealthcare’s chief data and analytics officer, later told Fierce Healthcare that Avery had resolved 90% of member interactions, with the remaining 10% transferred to human advocates. The insurer did not disclose its methodology for calculating the resolution rate.
The 21 million figure refers to members eligible to access Avery, rather than active users. UnitedHealthcare has not disclosed how many members have used the assistant or the total number of conversations it has handled.
Avery is available through the UnitedHealthcare mobile app and myuhc.com, where eligible members can ask questions about their health plans and receive responses based on their coverage.
The assistant provides information on deductibles, out-of-pocket costs, provider networks, and claims. Members can also check their plan balances, review available benefits, and obtain estimates for medical services.
Members can use Avery to check whether a doctor is within their insurance network, including the provider’s current network status, contact information, and location. The assistant retrieves information from UnitedHealthcare’s benefits, provider, and claims systems to provide answers based on individual coverage.
UnitedHealthcare previously told Fierce Healthcare that Avery’s development involved identifying patterns from customer service conversations and voice calls. The insurer said its AI systems were fine-tuned to answer member questions using digital data.
Avery also supports brokers and employers by answering questions about insurance products, comparing plans, and processing uploaded enrollment and eligibility documents. Customer service representatives can use the assistant to retrieve information from different internal systems and document member interactions.
When members need additional assistance, Avery connects them to a human advocate and provides a summary of the previous conversation. Representatives can access relevant member information, including previous interactions, without requiring members to repeat details or resubmit documents.
UnitedHealthcare is also developing additional functionality that would allow Avery to call healthcare providers and schedule appointments on members’ behalf, according to Kurtzweil’s interview with Fierce Healthcare. Although the insurer’s March announcement listed appointment scheduling among Avery’s supported functions, it has not clarified the availability of direct provider calling across its membership.
UnitedHealthcare measures Avery’s performance using accuracy, completeness, resolution, and response time, according to information shared with Fierce Healthcare in March. However, the insurer has not disclosed separate numerical results for these measures.
The company acknowledges that Avery’s responses can be incomplete or inaccurate. Its official documentation specifies that the assistant provides general information rather than medical advice, formal benefit determinations, guarantees of insurance coverage, or authorisations for healthcare services.
Coverage and benefits remain subject to the terms, conditions, limitations, and exclusions of each member’s insurance plan. UnitedHealthcare also states that Avery is not a substitute for advice from healthcare professionals.
UnitedHealthcare said Avery is subject to UnitedHealth Group’s Responsible AI governance framework. The company’s broader AI policies cover model performance, appropriate data use, fairness, privacy, and assessments of potential bias, although results from Avery-specific assessments have not been disclosed in the materials reviewed.
According to UnitedHealth Group’s 2025 proxy statement, its Artificial Intelligence Review Board includes technologists, clinicians, medical ethicists, data scientists, security experts, privacy and legal professionals, and member advocates. The board has the authority to approve AI models or require their temporary or permanent removal from production.
The company’s Responsible AI Program Office maintains an inventory of AI models and ensures they undergo the required review process. UnitedHealth Group’s AI principles also call for reliability testing, ongoing monitoring, bias assessments, and safeguards for sensitive information.
UnitedHealth Group states that its AI applications must comply with applicable privacy and security requirements. However, the publicly available Avery materials reviewed do not detail how long member conversations are retained, whether they are used for additional model training, or the results of independent accuracy assessments.
See also: Microsoft AI diagnostic tool outperforms doctors in clinical tests
Want to learn more about AI and big data from industry leaders? Check out AI & Big Data Expo taking place in Amsterdam, California, and London. The comprehensive event is part of TechEx and is co-located with other leading technology events, click here for more information.
AI News is powered by TechForge Media . Explore other upcoming enterprise technology events and webinars here .
