Shares of UnitedHealth Group Inc. (UNH) plummeted 7.64% in pre-market trading on Friday, following news that the U.S. Justice Department has launched an investigation into the company's Medicare billing practices.
According to reports, the civil fraud investigation is examining UnitedHealth's practices for recording diagnoses that trigger extra payments to its Medicare Advantage plans, including at physician groups the insurance giant owns. The probe comes after a series of articles published by The Wall Street Journal last year raised questions about billions of dollars in questionable diagnoses that led to higher Medicare payments for UnitedHealth.
The investigation focuses on whether UnitedHealth improperly encouraged its healthcare providers to add lucrative diagnoses to patient records, even if the conditions were not treated or relevant. This practice could potentially inflate the payments the company receives from the federal government for its Medicare Advantage plans.
免責聲明：投資有風險，本文並非投資建議，以上內容不應被視為任何金融產品的購買或出售要約、建議或邀請，作者或其他用戶的任何相關討論、評論或帖子也不應被視為此類內容。本文僅供一般參考，不考慮您的個人投資目標、財務狀況或需求。TTM對信息的準確性和完整性不承擔任何責任或保證，投資者應自行研究並在投資前尋求專業建議。