API referencePayers
Payers with prior authorization metrics
GET /v1/payers
GET https://api.healthcare.dev/v1/payersBuilder plan and up (Free: a few preview calls a month, then 403 plan-upgrade-required). Health plans whose annual prior authorization metrics postings (CMS-0057-F) we hold: Medicare Advantage organizations, Medicaid and CHIP programs and plans, and QHP issuers. Filter by the level they report at (type), a state, or text (q: payer name or id, or a unit id such as a Medicare Advantage contract H1036). Sorted by name. Then GET /v1/payers/{id}/prior-auth-metrics for the numbers.
Requires an API key: Authorization: Bearer hdev_live_.... See Authentication.
Query parameters
| Name | Type | Required | Description | Example |
|---|---|---|---|---|
type | "ma_contract" | "medicaid_ffs_state" | "medicaid_managed_care_plan" | "chip_ffs_state" | "chip_managed_care_plan" | "qhp_issuer" | no | Only payers reporting at this level (e.g. ma_contract) | ma_contract |
state | string | no | Only payers with a reporting unit in this state | FL |
q | string | no | Payer name or id, or a unit id (H1036) | humana |
limit | integer | no | Page size (max 100) | 25 |
cursor | string | no | Opaque cursor from links.next | |
view | "compact" | "standard" | "full" | no | How much of each record to return (default full). compact: id, name, years (fewest tokens, for agents). standard: every field. full: every field. | compact |
fields | string | no | Comma-separated fields to return instead of a view. Valid fields: id, name, unit_types, states, unit_count, years. | id,name,years |
Examples
curl
curl "https://api.healthcare.dev/v1/payers?q=humana&limit=25" \
-H "Authorization: Bearer $HDEV_API_KEY"TypeScript
const res = await fetch("https://api.healthcare.dev/v1/payers?q=humana&limit=25", {
headers: { Authorization: `Bearer ${process.env.HDEV_API_KEY}` },
});
const { data, meta } = await res.json();Python
import os
import requests
res = requests.get("https://api.healthcare.dev/v1/payers?q=humana&limit=25", headers={"Authorization": f"Bearer {os.environ['HDEV_API_KEY']}"})
body = res.json()Try it
Response
Payers, by name
{
"data": [
{
"id": "string",
"name": "string",
"unit_types": [
"ma_contract"
],
"states": [
"string"
],
"unit_count": 1,
"years": [
1
]
}
],
"meta": {
"source": "cms-icd10",
"data_version": "2026.1",
"retrieved_at": "2026-10-24T12:00:00Z",
"license": "Public domain (CMS). Reference data, not medical advice."
},
"links": {
"self": "/v1/payers?q=humana&limit=25",
"next": "/v1/payers?q=humana&limit=25&cursor=eyJrIjoiRTExLjkifQ"
}
}Fields
| Field | Type | Always present | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
id | string | yes | Stable payer id, e.g. humana |
name | string | yes | |
unit_types | PayerUnitType[] | yes | The levels it reports at |
states | string[] | yes | States of its units, where known |
unit_count | integer | yes | Reporting units we hold postings for |
years | integer[] | yes | Years with metrics, newest first |
Errors
Errors are application/problem+json (RFC 9457). Branch on type, not on title. See Errors.
| Status | type | When |
|---|---|---|
| 400 | invalid-request | A parameter or the body failed validation; errors lists each field. |
| 401 | unauthorized | Missing, malformed or revoked API key. |
| 403 | plan-upgrade-required | The plan doesn't include this feature; required_plan names the plan that does. |
| 404 | not-found | No record with that id (retired records are still returned). |
| 429 | rate-limited / quota-exceeded | Too many requests per second (retry after Retry-After), or the monthly quota is used up. |
| 503 | dataset-unavailable / unavailable | The dataset has no published version yet, or the service is degraded. |