The easiest drugs to get through prior authorizations are those where the payer's criteria are objective, the drug is in a preferred formulary position, and your documentation maps cleanly to a diagnosis code. 

Transaction-level data from 2024 shows that only 54% of branded prescriptions initially rejected by prior authorization were ever ultimately approved, so knowing which drugs are easiest to get through prior authorizations can really win back time for your practice.

The 7 Easiest Drugs (and Classes) to Get Through Prior Authorizations

1. Buprenorphine/Naloxone

Access to buprenorphine/naloxone has improved on two fronts in part due to shifts in public health legislation. In January 2023, Congress eliminated the federal X-waiver, so any clinician with a DEA registration that includes Schedule III authority can now prescribe it for opioid use disorder. 

Coverage has also loosened. KFF's annual Medicaid budget survey found that most states have removed prior authorization requirements for certain buprenorphine treatments for opioid use disorder, and many commercial plans followed. Where a PA does remain, criteria are typically a diagnosis code and a dosage check.

Why it's easy: Years of public health pressure to remove barriers to addiction treatment left fewer PA hurdles, and the remaining ones are often simple data checks.

2. GLP-1s for Type 2 Diabetes

Ease of approval is indication-dependent. Ozempic and Mounjaro prescribed for confirmed type 2 diabetes, with an A1c on file and a documented metformin trial, routinely pass through, and some plans skip the PA entirely when claims history shows metformin fills.

However, the situation changes when prescribing the weight-management versions of the same molecules. A KFF analysis of ACA Marketplace formularies found 82% of plans covered Ozempic while just 1% covered Wegovy. Additionally, roughly 45% of initial PA requests for obesity-indication GLP-1s are denied.

It’s important to note that the paperwork itself is spreading even on the diabetes side. Penn LDI researchers found that Medicare Part D plans went from requiring PA on 5% or fewer of beneficiaries for diabetes GLP-1s to nearly 100% by 2025, largely to deter off-label weight-loss use. With a confirmed T2D diagnosis, those PAs are still approved.

Why it's easy (for T2D): The criteria are objective and checkable: diagnosis code, A1c value, metformin history.

3. Preferred Adalimumab Biosimilars

Since adalimumab biosimilars arrived on formularies, plans and prescribers have been working towards getting patients onto a clinically equivalent product with broad coverage. When you prescribe the plan's preferred biosimilar, the PA criteria usually come down to confirming the diagnosis, and approvals move quickly.

Why it's easy: Formulary preference is one of the strongest indicators of a smooth PA. The main thing to check is which biosimilar a given plan prefers. If the first choice isn't on formulary, it's typically a simple product swap rather than an appeal.

4. DOACs

Direct oral anticoagulants like Eliquis and Xarelto are diagnosis-driven drugs (atrial fibrillation, VTE treatment, VTE prophylaxis) with over a decade of guideline support. Many plans have dropped PA on the preferred agent altogether, keeping it only for the non-preferred one.

Why it's easy: The diagnosis and supporting chart notes either matches the label or it doesn't. Low-controversy, high-approval classes like this are also the natural first candidates when payers trim their PA lists.

5. SGLT2 Inhibitors

Jardiance and Farxiga now carry indications across type 2 diabetes, heart failure, and chronic kidney disease. That breadth means almost any legitimate prescription maps to a covered indication, and criteria are lab-verifiable (e.g. eGFR).

Why it's easy: When ADA, ACC, and KDIGO guidelines all say the same thing, a PA is significantly easier to be approved. Most denials in this class are documentation gaps, such as a missing eGFR or an unlinked diagnosis code.

6. Preferred Insulin Analogs

Medicare's $35 monthly cap and manufacturer list-price cuts collapsed the cost differential that PA was designed to police. Preferred insulins on most formularies now process without clinical review; PA survives mainly on non-preferred brands and niche formulations.

Why it's easy: Check the plan's preferred insulin, and you'll rarely see a PA at all.

7. Combination Maintenance Inhalers

Triple-therapy inhalers like Trelegy have straightforward criteria. A COPD or asthma diagnosis and, sometimes, a trial of dual therapy. Because the diagnosis is objective and step requirements are shallow, first-pass approval rates are high. The main failure reason is forgetting to document the prior ICS/LABA fill.

Why it's easy: The requirements are straightforward: one diagnosis code, one prior-therapy note. Compare that to a specialty biologic PA with a dozen question-set branches.

What the "Easy" Drugs Have in Common

The easiest drugs to get through prior authorizations share three traits:

• Objective, verifiable criteria: Lab values and diagnosis codes leave nothing to a reviewer's discretion.
  
  

• Simple step therapy requirements: Where a prior trial is required at all, it's a single first-line generic the patient has usually already taken, not a multi-drug protocol.
  
  

• Preferred formulary status
  
  

• Policy changes: State PA-reform laws, federal pressure, and the six-payer pledge to approve 80% of electronic PAs in real time by 2027 are removing PAs from low-controversy drugs first.

The AMA's most recent survey found practices still complete an average of 40 prior authorizations per physician per week, consuming 13 hours of staff time and 79% of physicians report patients abandoning treatment over authorization friction. The drugs on our list can shrink that burden, but it doesn't eliminate it. The hard PAs (obesity GLP-1s, non-preferred biologics, anything off-label) are where practices spend most of their time.

Let Develop Health Handle the PAs, Easy and Hard

Develop Health detects PA requirements at the point of prescribing, extracts the supporting evidence from your clinical notes, and pre-fills each payer's question set with citations from your EHR, so every submission matches the plan's criteria the first time, whether it's a routine DOAC or a weight-management GLP-1. 

When a denial does come back, the system drafts an appeal when you want it to and then you decide if you want to submit it. It all runs inside your existing EHR workflow, with no new portal to learn. 

Book a demo to see how it works.

Frequently Asked Questions

What makes a drug easy to get through prior authorization? 

Three things: 

• objective approval criteria (labs, diagnosis codes)
  
  

• preferred formulary status
  
  

• and low cost controversy

When all three align, approvals are often same-day or immediate.

Which drugs are hardest to get through prior authorization? 

Weight-management GLP-1s top the list. First-submission approval rates run as low as 29-34% on some plans, followed by non-preferred biologics and any off-label use.

How long does an easy prior authorization take in 2026? 

Electronic PAs against objective criteria frequently return in minutes to hours. Medicare Part D requires standard decisions within 72 hours and expedited decisions within 24.

Do approval odds differ by insurer? 

Yes, substantially. Reported Medicare Advantage denial rates in 2024 ranged from 4.2% at Elevance to 12.8% at UnitedHealth Group, and several high-denial payers also show the highest overturn rates on appeal.

Can I avoid prior authorization entirely? 

Sometimes this is possible. Checking real-time benefit data before prescribing lets you pick the preferred agent in a class, which is often the difference between no PA and a multi-day review.