UnitedHealth Group announced that it is under federal investigation looking into its Medicare Advantage (MA) plans, the privately run healthcare of the government’s Medicare coverage, typically for people 65 and older.
The company said it is cooperating with the investigation.
News of the criminal and civil information requests was disclosed in a Securities and Exchange Commission filing by the company, which said, “(UnitedHealth) has a long record of responsible conduct and effective compliance,” The Associated Press reported.
The Wall Street Journal had previously reported that the government was investigating the company into how it documents diagnoses that lead to extra payments for its MA plans.
UnitedHeath Group said in a news release it had "proactively reached out to the Department of Justice after reviewing media reports about investigations into certain aspects of the Company’s participation in the Medicare program."
The company also has "proactively launched its own initiative to conduct third party reviews of policies, practices, and associated processes and performance metrics for risk assessment coding, managed care practices, and pharmacy services."
News of the investigation comes about eight months after an alleged gunman, Luigi Mangione, allegedly shot and killed UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson in New York City in December 2024. Police said Mangione was angry about the health insurance industry and “corporate greed” as a whole, CNN reported. Mangione has pleaded not guilty to the state and federal charges he faces.
©2024 Cox Media Group
/cloudfront-us-east-1.images.arcpublishing.com/cmg/XCUXZC2XYZHCRGNNGKFEX6U3LQ.png)
