A common view exterior the United Healthcare company headquarters on December 4, 2024 in Minnetonka, Minnesota.
Stephen Maturen | Getty Pictures
UnitedHealth Group revealed Thursday it’s dealing with a Justice Division investigation over its Medicare billing practices.
It comes after the Wall Avenue Journal reported in Could that the Division of Justice is conducting a felony investigation into the health-care big over potential Medicare fraud. In response on the time, the corporate stated it stands “by the integrity of our Medicare Benefit program.”
In July, the Journal also reported that the DOJ interviewed a number of docs about UnitedHealth’s practices and whether or not they felt pressured to submit claims for sure circumstances that bolstered funds from the Medicare Benefit program to the corporate.
That marked the second time this yr that the insurer’s Medicare Benefit enterprise has come beneath federal scrutiny. The Journal additionally reported in February that the DOJ is conducting a civil investigation into whether or not the corporate inflated diagnoses to set off further funds to its Medicare Benefit plans.
However in March, UnitedHealth moved a step nearer to ending a yearslong authorized battle with the DOJ that started with a whistleblower who alleged the corporate illegally withheld at the very least $2 billion by way of the Medicare Benefit program. A particular grasp assigned to the case by the choose issued a suggestion in favor of UnitedHealth, saying the DOJ lacked proof.
UnitedHealthcare’s Medicare and retirement section, which incorporates the Medicare Benefit enterprise, is UnitedHealth Group’s largest income driver, raking in $139 billion in gross sales final yr.
The replace within the probe comes after a tumultuous final yr for UnitedHealthcare, the nation’s largest and strongest personal well being insurer. Shares of UnitedHealthcare’s mum or dad firm, UnitedHealth Group, are down greater than 42% for the yr after it suspended its 2025 forecast amid skyrocketing medical prices, introduced the shock exit of former CEO Andrew Witty and grappled with the reported probe into its Medicare Benefit enterprise.
The corporate’s 2024 wasn’t any simpler, marked by a historic cyberattack and the torrent of public blowback after the homicide of UnitedHealthcare’s CEO Brian Thompson.