UnitedHealth Group CEO Andrew Witty has stepped down for personal reasons and chairman and former CEO Stephen Hemsley will replace him.
Mr. Hemsley served as CEO from 2006 to 2017 and will remain chairman of the company’s board of directors. Mr. Witty will serve as a senior adviser.
UnitedHealth has also suspended its 2025 earnings outlook “as care activity continued to accelerate while also broadening to more types of benefit offerings than seen in the first quarter,” especially in the Medicare Advantage business. The company expects to return to growth in 2026.
“Leading the people of UnitedHealth Group has been a tremendous honor as they work every day to improve the health system, and they will continue to inspire me,” Mr. Witty said May 13.
“We are grateful for Andrew’s stewardship of UnitedHealth Group, especially during some of the most challenging times any company has ever faced,” Mr. Hemsley said. “The board and I have greatly valued his leadership and compassion as chief executive and as a director and wish him and his family the best.”
“UnitedHealth Group has tremendous opportunities to grow as we continue to help improve health care and to perform to our potential — and, in so doing, return to our long-term growth objective of 13% to 16%,” he added.
Mr. Hemsley first joined UnitedHealth as COO in 1997 and became president in 1999. He became board chair in 2017.
In its first quarter earnings for 2025, the company was caught off guard by care utilization rates twice as high as expected among its Medicare Advantage membership, especially for outpatient and physician services. The rise in costs led UnitedHealth to cut its earnings guidance for 2025, sending its share price down 20% on the morning of April 17.
The “unusual and unacceptable” first-quarter results followed an unprecedented year for the company. From the targeted killing of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson to a crippling cyberattack on subsidiary Change Healthcare, UnitedHealth faced a cascade of crises in 2024 that heightened public scrutiny and sparked a broader reckoning about the role of insurers within the healthcare system.
Mr. Witty had served as UnitedHealth’s CEO since 2021. John Rex is president and CFO, and Tim Noel is CEO of UnitedHealthcare. Patrick Conway, MD, is CEO of Optum, Optum Health is led by Amar Desai, MD, and Optum Insight is led by Roger Connor.
