Abarca Forward 2026 Marks Five Years of Industry Momentum with a Bold Agenda to Reimagine Prior Authorization and Utilization Management

At its milestone 5th edition, Abarca Forward brought together national healthcare leaders to accelerate a more intelligent, more connected, and more human model for PA and UM.

SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico, Feb. 25, 2026 /PRNewswire/ -- Abarca Health hosted the fifth edition of Abarca Forward 2026, bringing together senior healthcare leaders from across the United States to redefine the future of prior authorization (PA) and utilization management.

This year's event adopted an anti-conference format, shifting beyond traditional panel discussions toward curated co-creation sessions. Executives representing health plans, providers, pharmacies, manufacturers, technology companies, employers, and policy stakeholders worked collaboratively to align on principles and strategies to transform PA from an administrative hurdle into an intelligent clinical decision-support function.

"Prior authorization is the one part of healthcare that almost everyone agrees feels broken. Painful for patients, burdensome for providers, and expensive for plans," said Jason Borschow, CEO of Abarca Health. "The solution isn't just automation. It's redesign. We need a smarter system where data, incentives, and clinical judgment are aligned so that coverage decisions are fast, transparent, and supported, not adversarial."

Originally designed to promote clinically appropriate and cost-effective care, PA has increasingly become a point of friction across the healthcare ecosystem. Abarca Forward 2026 focused on redesigning PA to improve speed, transparency, consistency, and patient experience, while preserving cost stewardship and clinical rigor.

The program featured an interview with Chris Klomp, Chief Counselor at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), who oversees all Department operations. Klomp and Borschow discussed the federal perspective on the future of utilization management and electronic PA standards. Klomp spoke about how policy is catching up to innovation and what it means for health plans, providers, and technology partners.

Additional speakers included Tanvi Patel (Amazon Pharmacy), Suzanne Trautman (Blue Cross NC), Akeel Williams (CoverMyMeds). Sri Somasundaram (Latent), John Barto (Microsoft), and Satyashree Pandey (Stellarus), among others. Sessions explored real-time benefit integration, AI-enabled workflow modernization, specialty drug management, and cross-stakeholder alignment.

The event culminated in a structured co-creation workshop that brought the stakeholders who shape PA, including plans, providers, employers, technology leaders, and patient voices, into one room to align on shared principles for next-generation PA and the patient's journey. The resulting playbook will guide all the participants' work across the industry, helping move PA from debate to coordinated action.

For more information, visit www.abarcaforward.com.

About Abarca Health
At Abarca, we see a future in which healthcare is seamless and personalized, and we are working every day to make it a reality for the people and organizations we serve. We are starting with prescriptions, the frontline of healthcare. But by leveraging Darwin, our smarter technology, straightforward business approach, and a team driven to innovate and find a better way in everything we do, we are enabling a broader healthcare revolution. Abarca manages $14B in annual drug spend and serves 7.5M lives across the United States, including clients that have achieved a 5-Star Medicare Part D rating. With 20 years of unstoppable drive, we continue to build a better way in healthcare. Visit Abarcahealth.com for more information.

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Contact: Mayra Hernández, [email protected], (954) 309-9606

SOURCE Abarca