The DoJ is investigating UnitedHealth Group for possible criminal Medicare fraud, sources told the Wall Street Journal.
The healthcare-fraud unit of the Justice Department’s criminal division is overseeing the investigation, the people said, and it has been an active probe since at least last summer. While the exact nature of the potential criminal allegations against UnitedHealth is unclear, the people said the federal investigation is focusing on the company’s Medicare Advantage business practices.
UnitedHealth said in a statement it hadn’t been notified by the Justice Department of the criminal investigation. The statement said the company stands “by the integrity of our Medicare Advantage program.”
[…] The criminal probe adds to a list of government inquiries into the company, including investigations of potential antitrust violations and a civil investigation of its Medicare billing practices, including at its doctors offices, that The Wall Street Journal first reported in February.
The company’s stock has been melting down over its financial performance and the unexpected replacement this week of CEO Andrew Witty, with its chairman and former CEO, Stephen Hemsley. In the past month, UnitedHealth’s stock has declined by more than 50%.
Not to mention their top executive getting gunned down in the street, to very little public outrage and enormous public support for his killer.
Sounds like UnitedHealthcare is having a comeuppance!