UnitedHealthcare is facing a government investigation into its Medicare billing practices, while also pursuing employee buyouts and potential layoffs. The development comes as part of a tumultuous year for the parent company, UnitedHealth Group, marked by executive deaths, cyberattacks, and high medical costs.
The Department of Justice has launched a civil fraud investigation into UnitedHealth’s billing practices for its Medicare Advantage plans, specifically examining whether diagnoses were routinely made to trigger extra payments. This probe follows previous reports from The Wall Street Journal that Medicare paid UnitedHealth billions of dollars for questionable diagnoses.
UnitedHealthcare is the nation’s largest private insurer and one of the country’s biggest healthcare conglomerates, with a market value of over $420 billion. Its shares have tumbled more than 20% in the past three months.
The company denies any wrongdoing, calling the investigation “misinformation” and stating that it consistently meets industry standards for government compliance reviews. Analysts say the probe is unlikely to result in significant financial losses for the company in the near term.
UnitedHealthcare is also offering buyouts to employees as part of a cost-cutting effort. This move comes after reports emerged that the company could pursue layoffs if resignation quotas aren’t met. The development is similar to a high-profile public dispute between UnitedHealth Group and a Texas doctor, who alleged that the company pulled her out of an operation to justify a patient’s care.
The insurer has also faced criticism from billionaire Bill Ackman, who publicly pledged to cover the doctor’s legal fees. The dispute highlights the growing scrutiny over UnitedHealthcare’s practices and its potential impact on patients.
Furthermore, the company is still grappling with the aftermath of a cyberattack on its subsidiary Change Healthcare, which compromised the protected health information of 190 million people and cost over $3 billion in payouts to providers affected.
Source: https://www.cnbc.com/2025/02/21/unitedhealth-faces-doj-investigation-buyouts-stock-price-drop.html