Alabama is one of five states being added to UnitedHealthcare’s Rural Payment Acceleration Pilot, the insurer announced Monday.

The expansion also covers Arkansas, Kentucky, Virginia and West Virginia.

Under the program, which launched in January, Medicare Advantage payments to participating hospitals have moved from averaging under 30 days to under 15 days.

By fall, UnitedHealthcare plans to extend the faster payment timelines to roughly 1,500 rural hospitals nationwide, including every Critical Access Hospital in the program and their affiliated practitioners.

The accelerated payments will apply to Medicaid and fully insured commercial plans in addition to Medicare Advantage.

The same group of hospitals will be exempted from most of UnitedHealthcare’s medical prior authorization requirements across all lines of business. The insurer said ongoing reviews will remain in place for quality and patient safety.

UnitedHealthcare is also partnering with larger health systems on hub-and-spoke care models, with initial focus areas in maternity, diabetes and post-surgical care.

Alabama has 8 Critical Access Hospitals and 3 Rural Emergency Hospitals, according to the Alabama Department of Public Health. About 22% of Alabamians — more than 1.1 million people — live in nonmetropolitan areas.

The announcement follows Alabama’s $203 million first-year award through the federal Rural Health Transformation Program, established under the One Big Beautiful Bill signed into law last July.