UnitedHealth rolls out AI assistant Avery

UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (UNH) has launched Avery, an AI-powered conversational companion and personalized health assistant aimed at simplifying how members interact with their health benefits and services.

Announced on March 26, 2026, Avery is designed to provide proactive, personalized health support, helping people locate care, manage appointments, and understand their benefits while streamlining administrative tasks.

The initiative reflects UnitedHealth Group’s move to use generative AI in a customer-facing role rather than limiting it to back-office automation, with the goal of enhancing the member experience and easing access to care.

According to the company, Avery supports a wide range of tasks including benefits navigation, appointment scheduling, cost estimates, claims status checks, provider search, and other administrative activities.

By combining benefits, claims, and provider data into a single experience, the tool is expected to simplify interactions for members seeking information across different parts of their health coverage.

UnitedHealth states that roughly 90% of Avery interactions require no advocate assistance, indicating a high rate of member self-service through the AI companion.

Avery’s rollout is beginning at scale, with the AI companion already available to approximately 6.5 million employer-sponsored members and 160,000 Medicare Advantage members.

Management projects that 20.5 million commercial, Medicare, and Medicaid members will have access to Avery by the end of 2026, signaling an aggressive expansion plan for the platform.

The company expects the launch to improve operating leverage and consumer retention as more members use Avery to resolve issues without human intervention and navigate their benefits more efficiently.

UnitedHealth describes Avery as a response to consumer demand for a more coordinated and simpler healthcare experience that is easier to use and tailored to personal needs.

Dan Kueter, CEO of UnitedHealthcare’s commercial business, said Avery is one way the company is responding to this demand and enabling members to focus on “getting and staying well.”

UnitedHealth Group, through its UnitedHealthcare and Optum franchises, operates across insurance, care delivery, pharmacy benefits, software, and analytics, and uses these capabilities to support coordinated care and cost management.

The Avery launch comes as UnitedHealth Group’s stock has faced recent pressure, with shares dropping 3.3% to $259 and trading below key moving averages amid broader healthcare sector challenges.

Despite these short-term pressures and valuation concerns, its dual business model built around UnitedHealthcare and Optum is cited as a factor supporting long-term resilience.

Investors are awaiting UnitedHealth’s first-quarter 2026 earnings report on April 21, 2026, which is expected to provide further detail on Medicare Advantage dynamics and the continued growth of Optum.