Key takeout
- The UnitedHealth Group shares sank Friday following reports that the U.S. Department of Justice is investigating the company's diagnostic practices.
- Wall Street Journal DOJ reports that it is investigating whether companies tend to overdiagnose the conditions that allow them to earn a greater Medicare advantage payment.
- UnitedHealth criticized the newspaper's previous report, saying, ” journal I don't understand the Medicare Advantage program. ”
UnitedHealth Group (UNH) stock fell more than 10% Friday morning after reports that the U.S. Department of Justice is investigating Medicare claims practices at major healthcare companies.
According to Wall Street JournalDOJ is investigating whether UnitedHealth tends to overdiagnose the conditions in which he can obtain additional payments from the Medicare Advantage program. The newspaper reported on the December medical claim, and the doctors reported that they had been trained to “record a diagnosis documenting revenue-generating diagnosis.”
UnitedHealth said WSJ “doesn't understand” Medicare Advantage program
DOJ and UnitedHealth did not respond immediately Investopedia Request a comment.
UnitedHealth has criticized it previously journalReport on the advantages of Medicare. The company said the report was “clearly journal “We don't understand the Medicare Advantage program, which calls reporting “one-sided and biased attacks.”
The news weighs stocks in other health insurance companies on Friday, with CVS Health (CVS), Cigna Group (CI) and Humana (Hum) each down following reports. UnitedHealth shares fell 11% on Friday morning, ready to open at its lowest since last April.
