Jogaza Credentialing

How long does insurance credentialing take?

Checked against our own applications on

Short answer

  • Most plans take 60 to 120 days after they have a complete application. Some Medicaid plans quote 60 to 120 business days, which is closer to four or five months.
  • The clock starts when the plan has everything, not when you first apply. Missing pages, mismatched names and unanswered emails restart it.
  • Closed networks have no timeline at all: you go on a waiting list until they need your specialty.

Timelines we've seen in 2026

These come from applications we filed this year for a solo psychiatric nurse practitioner practice in the Richmond area. They are what each plan told us, or what actually happened.

  • CAQH ProView: a few days to update and re-attest, if the practitioner does it promptly. Plans can't see the profile until it's attested and they're authorized.
  • Optum Behavioral Health (UnitedHealthcare): a tax ID change was quoted at up to 45 days; adding networks to an existing contract, 30 to 45 days from when Optum logs the request.
  • Carelon Behavioral Health (Anthem): application received, then a contract sent for e-signature five days later. Credentialing and contracting run in parallel after that.
  • Aetna Better Health of Virginia (Medicaid): 60 to 120 business days once the contracting team forwards a complete packet to credentialing.
  • Humana Healthy Horizons in Virginia (Medicaid): Humana quotes 60 to 90 days for a decision on a Request to Join. Ours was denied in two days (closed network) and the denial was overturned two days after we asked for reconsideration.
  • TRICARE East: certification can take up to 90 days, and Humana Military asks you not to request updates before then.
  • Sentara Health Plans: the behavioral health network is full, so new requests are reviewed in the order received with no date given.

What slows credentialing down

  1. A name that doesn't match the IRS. The legal name on your W-9 must match your IRS EIN letter (CP 575) exactly. An LLC's name goes on line 1. Aetna cancelled one tax ID change, and Aetna Better Health sent a W-9 back, over this.
  2. Email that never arrived. A rep may give you an email address, but if nothing confirms receipt, assume it's lost. Send documents while the rep is on the phone and ask for a case number.
  3. Contracts in spam. Plans send contracts through Adobe Acrobat Sign, DocuSign or OneSpan. One sat in a spam folder for days while the plan waited.
  4. CAQH not attested. Plans pull your data from CAQH. If it's out of date or the 120-day attestation lapsed, they stop.
  5. Blank pages. A single unsigned attestation page sent a 19-page Medicaid packet back to us.
  6. Calling too often. Some plans review in the order received and ask you not to request status. Calling doesn't move you up the list.

How to keep it moving

  • Apply as a group first (your Type 2 NPI and EIN), then add yourself under the group, so you only do it once per plan.
  • Keep one list of every application: what was sent, when, to whom, and the reference number.
  • Check every open application on a schedule, but follow each plan's own rules on status requests.
  • Answer document requests the same day. A plan that asks a question is usually waiting on you.

Specific plans: Aetna, Optum, Carelon, Humana Healthy Horizons, Sentara, Virginia Medicaid and CAQH.

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