From the labor department suing over emergency claims denials, to releasing details of its planned 20 percent reduction in prior authorization requirements, here are 10 updates about UnitedHealth Group Becker's has reported since July 12.
1. UnitedHealthcare is awarding $11.1 million in grants to 66 nonprofit organizations across 12 states in an effort to better identify and address social determinants of health among uninsured individuals and underserved communities.
2. UnitedHealth Group subsidiary UMR incorrectly denied emergency room and urinary drug screening claims for "thousands," the U.S. Department of Labor alleged in a lawsuit filed in a Wisconsin federal court.
3. UnitedHealthcare and Orlando (Fla.) Health reached an agreement that will keep 70,000 patients in network.
4. The first wave of UnitedHealthcare's previously announced 20 percent reduction in prior authorization requirements takes effect Sept 1.
5. The CEO of a laboratory company acquitted in a $1.4 billion fraud scheme is suing six payers, including UnitedHealth Group, alleging they made false allegations to regulators and prosecutors to avoid paying millions in legitimate claims.
6. Wyatt Decker, MD, who served as Optum Health's CEO since 2019, transitioned to the role of chief physician at UnitedHealth Group. Amar Desai, MD, has been tapped to replace Dr. Decker as Optum Health CEO.
7. UnitedHealth Group CEO Andrew Witty was the sixth-highest paid CEO at a publicly traded insurance company in 2022.
8. UnitedHealthcare is expecting medical costs for its Medicare Advantage members to keep rising, the company's top executives said during the company's second quarter earnings call.
9. UnitedHealth Group recorded double-digit growth in revenue year over year across its lines of business at UnitedHealthcare and Optum, according to the company's second-quarter earnings report.
10. In 2021, Cooperstown, N.Y.-based Bassett Healthcare Network tapped Optum to provide IT and revenue cycle management services. Tommy Ibrahim, MD, president and CEO of Bassett Healthcare, spoke with Becker's about what the health system's partnership with Optum has achieved more than two years later.