UnitedHealth's Hidden Empire: How a $5 Trillion Industry is Monetizing Patients
Four STAT News journalists spent over a year investigating UnitedHealth's operations, publishing an award-winning eight-part series in 2024 and 2025.
The team interviewed dozens of current and former employees to expose how UnitedHealth uses its leverage to acquire physician practices, pharmacies, and other providers, driving up healthcare costs for employers and contributing to layoffs, unemployment rates, and increased levels of drug and alcohol abuse and suicides.
The series, 'Health Care's Colossus,' revealed that UnitedHealth employs physicians to care for seniors enrolled in Medicare Advantage plans, allowing the company to control coding and risk scores, which affects reimbursement from insurers.
According to the Office of Inspector General report, 20 companies serving MA members generated at least $6 billion in risk-adjusted payments from HRAs and HRA-linked chart reviews of MA enrollees in 2023. UnitedHealth Group was identified as one top MA company using in-home health assessments.