Throughout 2025, health insurance leaders have weighed in on the role AI should play in the industry, from advancing operational efficiencies to integrating with consumer-facing technology.
Here are 14 statements and updates on AI from health insurers in 2025:
1. UnitedHealth Group appointed Michael Pencina, PhD, as its chief AI scientist.
2. Elevance Health Chief Digital Information Officer Ratnakar Lavu told Becker’s the company is “extremely bullish” about AI investments, but does not want “technology for the sake of technology.”
3. Dan Kueter, CEO of UnitedHealthcare’s employer and individual insurance business, broke down a few of the company’s 1,000 AI use cases.
4. Cigna rolled out a suite of AI tools for members, ranging from a chatbot to a plan-selection resource.
5. Optum launched Optum Real, an AI-powered claims system that offers providers instant coverage validation.
6. Katya Andresen, chief digital and analytics officer at The Cigna Group, told Becker’s that benefits navigation should be as simple as paying bills or ordering takeout.
7. Elevance Health’s virtual assistant now reaches 22 million members, generating momentum ahead of its Medicare expansion in 2026.
8. EmblemHealth Chief Medical Officer Dan Knecht, MD, told Becker’s how the insurer leverages AI in its weather-resilience program, starting with heat waves.
9. Aetna introduced a generative AI-powered conversational assistant embedded in its website and app.
10. Anita Allemand, PharmD, Elevance Health’s chief growth officer, told Becker’s that Medicare members are “getting far more capable and accepting” of AI.
11. The Aetna Care Paths tool came to the Aetna Health app, providing personalized benefit information.
12. “At our core, we’re a data company,” Craig Kurtzweil, chief data and analytics officer for UnitedHealthcare’s commercial business, said to Becker’s.
13. Oscar Health shared plans for its AI agent, Oswell, which OpenAI will power.
14. Counterpart Health, a subsidiary of Clover Health, launched generative AI capabilities in its Counterpart Assistant.
