The DOJ is investigating UnitedHealth's Medicare billing practices, the Wall Street Journal reported on Friday, while the health insurer said it was unaware of any new probe underway. UnitedHealth Group opens new tab shares were down 7.3%, weighing on the broader Dow Jones Industrial Average which was down more than 1%. Shares of rival insurers were caught up in the sell-off, with Humana down 5.5% and CVS Health. The civil fraud investigation, which was launched in recent months, is examining the company's practices for recording diagnoses that trigger extra payments to its Medicare Advantage plans, the Journal reported, citing people familiar with the matter. WSJ has run a series of stories over the last several months detailing how UnitedHealth profited from using Medicare billing rules to its favor. UnitedHealth said the report contained misinformation about its Medicare Advantage plans, without providing details.
On Wednesday, President Donald Trump endorsed a House Republican budget plan that would impose hundreds of millions of dollars in cuts to Medicaid. Trump endorsed the plan over another Senate proposal, which sought to pass much of his legislative agenda through two separate bills. Trump, who had previously said either plan was fine with him, said in a Truth Social post on Wednesday that the House plan was better, in his mind, because it puts most everything he wants into "one big beautiful bill."
Health plans are lobbying the Trump administration to scrap a proposal dating from the final days of the Biden administration that would require Medicare and Medicaid to cover anti-obesity drugs, including GLP-1s, for weight loss. Why it matters: The final decision, expected in April, is an important barometer of which healthcare interests have President Trump's ear, since many providers, patients and drugmakers want Medicare to cover the products.
A quiet rebellion among Republicans representing working-class and low-income areas against President Donald Trump's legislative agenda has picked up some powerful new allies: U.S. hospitals and conservative agitator Steve Bannon. The party's leaders have worked to placate budget hawks and Republicans in high-tax and high-income areas who have dominated the GOP debate over the extension of Trump's 2017 tax cuts and the corresponding cost-cutting crusade led by billionaire Elon Musk, Trump's most prominent adviser.
In a few weeks, Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan is expected to give its annual report on a big number: the compensation package of its top executive. This disclosure happens every year in early March, and typically generates loud news headlines and snide comments on social media. It's coming at an awkward time this year for new Blue Cross CEO Tricia Keith, even though the pay package number getting revealed — potentially $15 million or more — won't be hers, but rather that earned last year by her predecessor, Daniel Loepp, who retired Dec. 31 after nearly 20 years in the top job. Blue Cross recently raised premiums on many group plans by 11.5% for 2025 — the biggest price jump in years — and gave voluntary buyout offers to its nonunionized workforce in an effort to cut $285 million in costs this year, or $600 million total over "several" years. On the coverage front, Blue Cross on Jan. 1 stopped covering the popular and highly effective class of GLP-1 weight-loss drugs, including Mounjaro and Wegovy, for patients who only use them to lose weight. (Coverage for diabetes patients continues.) The insurer cited the drugs' high cost as part of the reason for this decision.
Several hospitals in the Sunshine State, including six in Central Florida, are suing UnitedHealthcare for underpaying for emergency services provided. The suit alleges that the healthcare company failed to pay the amount required by Florida law for the services the hospitals offered. "United has unilaterally and consistently decided to underpay the Hospitals these claims at only a fraction of the billed charges, at amounts well below the level of payment required by Florida statute," according to the lawsuit.