Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. and CMS Administrator Dr. Mehmet Oz announced a pledge from insurers to streamline the prior authorization process for patients.

According to Kennedy and Oz, this will impact nearly all health insurance plans including Medicare and Medicaid. The prior authorizations they’re talking about are rules saying a doctor needs to get permission from insurance companies before providing procedures, tests and medications.

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It can be a lengthy process that sometimes delays medical care, according to Oz and Kennedy.

Top insurers from around the country, more than 50 companies in total, met with government officials for a roundtable discussion. The outcome: they’re pledging six voluntary reforms, including:

Standardizing electronic submissions which would allow for “real time approval”, reducing the number of services that require prior authorization at all, and enhancing transparency around authorization decisions and appeals.

Administrator Oz said this is a voluntary pledge from insurers, adding, “We’re throwing money away on administrative costs financially. We’re also wasting people’s time.” He went on to say, “The most important reality is the administration has made it clear we’re not going to tolerate it anymore either you fix it or we’re going to fix it. They wisely decided they should fix it.”

According to the trade association AHIP, the health insurance companies that took the pledge include United Healthcare, Cigna, Humana. Blue Cross and Blue Shield of IL also told NBC 5 Responds it is participating. CMS said it plans to publish a full list of participating plans later this summer.