UnitedHealth Group (NYSE:UNH) shares edged about 1% lower on Monday morning after a U.S. Senate committee report concluded that the healthcare group employed aggressive methods to increase payments under the Medicare Advantage program.
The investigation by the Senate Judiciary Committee, which reviewed roughly 50,000 pages of internal company documents, found that UnitedHealth had “turned risk adjustment into a business, which was not the original intent.” The report follows an inquiry launched by Senator Chuck Grassley of Iowa after a Wall Street Journal investigation alleged that the insurer systematically added diagnoses to patient records, unlocking billions of dollars in additional federal payments.
Under Medicare Advantage, insurers receive higher government payments for patients with certain serious or costly medical conditions through a mechanism known as risk adjustment. The Journal’s reporting suggested that some of the diagnoses entered into patient records were questionable or inaccurate, and that patients frequently did not receive treatment for many of the conditions cited.
UnitedHealth is currently the subject of several probes into its business practices, including both civil and criminal investigations by the U.S. Department of Justice, which the company disclosed in July. A spokesperson for UnitedHealth said the group disagreed with how the Senate report characterized its actions.
In a separate update, UnitedHealth said it will host investor meetings on January 12, 2026, during which management intends to reaffirm its adjusted earnings guidance for 2025 that was previously issued in October.