50 things to know about UnitedHealth Group

Here’s 50 things to know about the healthcare giant: 

Editor’s note: This story was originally published in June 2023 and last updated Dec. 12, 2024. 

History 

1. The company was founded by physicians and other healthcare professionals in Minnetonka, Minn., in 1974 under the name Charter Med Corp.
2. The company traces its roots to Paul Ellwood, MD, the physician who coined the term “health maintenance organization.” Richard Burke, who founded Charter Med, was a researcher at Dr. Ellwood’s Minneapolis-based think tank.
3. Three years later, UnitedHealthcare was created and became the parent company of Charter Med.
4. UnitedHealthcare became a public company in 1984.
5. The company rebranded as UnitedHealth Group in 1998.
6. UnitedHealth Group acquired several health insurers and practices through the 1990s and 2000s. Notable acquisitions include MetraHealth, the healthcare operations of Travelers Insurance and Metropolitan Life Insurance Company in 1995; Medicaid managed care company AmeriChoice in 2002; PacifiCare Health Systems in 2005; and Sierra Health Services in 2007.
7. UnitedHealth Group created Optum, its health services arm, in 2011.

Fast facts 

8. UnitedHealth Group is ranked No. 4 on the Fortune 500, behind Walmart, Amazon and Apple and ahead of CVS Health. It is the largest healthcare company on the list.
9. The company employs 440,000 people worldwide.
10. UnitedHealth Group is headquartered in Minnetonka, Minn.
11. In 2023, around 55% of the company’s revenue came from UnitedHealthcare, with the remaining from Optum.
12. UnitedHealth Group made $22.4 billion in net earnings in 2023, an 11% increase year over year.
13.  The company expects to earn up to $455 billion in revenue in 2025.

Recent headlines 

14. On Dec. 4, 2024, UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson was fatally shot in New York City, in what police called a “a brazen and targeted attack.”  
15. In November, UnitedHealthcare prevailed in its lawsuit challenging its Medicare Advantage star ratings from CMS. The insurer alleged its ratings were downgraded over “a single phone call.” The agency upgraded the star ratings of 12 of UnitedHealthcare’s contracts.
16. The Justice Department is suing UnitedHealth Group and home health company Amedisys over the companies’ planned $3.3 billion merger. The lawsuit claims the purchase could increase home health prices in 23 states. Optum first announced plans to merge with Amedisys in June 2023. The company operates more than 500 care centers.
17. UnitedHealthcare launched a prior authorization gold-card program in October. The program allows providers with a prior authorization approval rate of 92% or more to be exempted from some prior authorization requirements. 
18. UnitedHealth Group is the subject of an antitrust investigation by the Justice Department, The Wall Street Journal reported in February 2024. Justice Department investigators interviewed healthcare industry representatives in UnitedHealth competition sectors, including physician groups, the publication reported. Investigator questions during the interviews have included specific relationships between UnitedHealthcare and Optum, according to the Wall Street Journal.

19. UnitedHealth Group’s chairman and three of its executives sold a combined $101. 5 million in stock before the public became aware of the antitrust investigation, according to reporting from Bloomberg. Neither UnitedHealth Group nor the Justice Department have commented on the investigation. According to Bloomberg, the stock sales occurred between Oct. 16, the week after UnitedHealth reportedly received notice of the Justice Department’s investigation, and Feb. 26, the day the Wall Street Journal and other outlets reported on the investigation. A spokesperson for UnitedHealth told Bloomberg the executives followed protocols and received approval from the company for the trades. 
20. In July, shareholders sued UnitedHealth Group, alleging the company failed to disclose the antitrust investigation. The lawsuit alleged UnitedHealth Group chair Stephen Hemsley, and former UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson sold substantial amounts of stock while in possession of “material non-public information.”
21. UnitedHealth Group was rumored to be among the potential buyers of ASC operator Surgical Partners, Bloomberg reported in August. Surgery Partners is the third-largest ASC operator in the U.S. 
22. Optum’s Change Healthcare was hacked by a ransomware gang, the company confirmed in February. Ransomware group ALPHV/Blackcat, aka BlackCat, claimed responsibility for the hack and is purported to have stolen 6 terabytes of data. The outage created major disruptions for pharmacies, hospitals and insurers nationwide. The breach exposed the data of 100 million people.
23. UnitedHealth group paid a ransom to the cybercriminal group involved in the attack. The company did not disclose how much it paid, but the cybercriminal group received $22 million in bitcoin, according to a report from Reuters. UnitedHealth Group CEO Andrew Witty testified before Congress in May, where he said the decision to pay the ransom was his.
24. Change Healthcare was hit with a bevy of class-action lawsuits over the cyber attacks. Attorneys for the UnitedHealth Group subsidiary are set to meet with a federal judge to discuss a possible settlement to the lawsuits in January 2025. The settlement could set a record for healthcare.
25. Oregon state legislators allowed Optum to purchase Corvallis Clinic, bypassing a state review.
26. UnitedHealth Group and UnitedHealthcare are facing a proposed class-action lawsuit alleging an AI algorithm used by the companies wrongfully denied care to Medicare Advantage patients. The families of two deceased UnitedHealthcare MA members alleged their relatives were wrongfully denied coverage of medically necessary post-acute care. NaviHealth, the developer of the algorithm, is also named in the suit.
27. UnitedHealthcare began a wave of prior authorization cuts in fall 2023, eliminating 20% of its current prior authorization requirements.
28. Eli Lilly surpassed UnitedHealth Group as the largest healthcare company in the world by market share in July 2023.
29. UnitedHealth Group’s 20-acre Minnetonka, Minn., headquarters is up for lease. The company plans to consolidate its headquarters with Optum’s campus in Eden Prairie. UnitedHealthcare will continue to be based in Minnetonka.

Leadership

30. Andrew Witty is CEO of UnitedHealth Group. He was named CEO in February 2021 and was previously CEO of pharmaceutical manufacturer GSK.
31. Mr. Witty was paid $23.5 million in total compensation in 2022.
32. The CEO-to-median-employee pay ratio at UnitedHealth Group in 2022 was 352-to-1.
33. John Rex is CFO of UnitedHealth Group, a role he has held since 2016.
34. Mr. Rex was paid $16.1 million in total compensation in 2022.
35. Former UnitedHealth Group President and COO Dirk McMahon retired in April 2024. Mr. Rex assumed the COO role after his retirement.
36. Former UnitedHealth Group CEO Stephen Hemsley is chair of the company’s nine-member board of directors.

UnitedHealthcare 

37. UnitedHealthcare had 50.7 million medical insurance members at the end of the third quarter of 2024.

38.  The company was the largest commercial payer by total membership as of the end of 2023.
39. UnitedHealthcare has the largest share of Medicare Advantage membership, with around 1 in 4 MA beneficiaries enrolled in a UnitedHealthcare plan in 2022, according to KFF.

40. UnitedHealthcare had 7.8 million Medicare Advantage members at the end of the third quarter of 2024.

41. UnitedHealthcare had 29.7 million commercial members in the U.S. at the end of the third quarter of 2024.

42. The company had 7.5 million Medicaid members at the end of the third quarter of 2024. .

Optum 

43. Optum is made up of three core divisions: Optum Health, Optum Insight and Optum Rx.
44. Optum is the largest employer of physicians in the United States, with at least 90,000 employed or aligned physicians at 2,200 locations in 2023.
45. Optum Health served 104 million customers in the third quarter of 2024. 
46. Optum Rx filled 407 million prescriptions in the third quarter of 2024.
47. Optum is headquartered in Eden Prairie, Minn.
48. Health Cianfrocco is President and CEO of Optum. She was previously CEO of Optum Rx.
49. Three leaders head each of Optum’s divisions: Patrick Conway, MD, is CEO of Optum Rx, Roger Connor is CEO of Optum Insight, and Amar Desai, MD, leads Optum Health.
50. Mr. Witty has previously said Optum and UnitedHealthcare operate in a “supplier-purchaser” relationship, rather than as two parts of an enterprise. The company’s Optum Insight arm develops data products for rival insurers as well, Mr. Witty said in August 2022.