Prior authorization (PA) is a requirement that your prescriber get approval from your insurance plan before it will cover a specific medication. The plan publishes criteria — often a diagnosis or lab values — and your prescriber's office submits documentation showing you meet them.
Prior authorization
Approval your insurer requires before it will cover a medication.
Updated Sep 2, 2026
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Related terms
- Semaglutide salt forms — Versions of semaglutide such as semaglutide sodium and semaglutide acetate, which the FDA says are different active ingredients from the semaglutide base used in approved drugs, with no known lawful basis for compounding.
- Open enrollment — The annual window when you can enroll in or change your health plan, and the time to compare GLP-1 coverage across the plans available to you.
- P&T committee (Pharmacy and Therapeutics committee) — The panel of physicians, pharmacists, and other clinicians that reviews the clinical evidence behind a plan's formulary: which drugs are acceptable, which are interchangeable, and what restrictions apply.
- API (active pharmaceutical ingredient) — The raw drug substance in a medication that produces its effect — for example, semaglutide itself, before it is formulated into a pen or vial.
- Certificate of analysis (CoA) — A document reporting the lab test results for a specific batch of a drug ingredient or product, such as identity, purity, and contaminants.
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