Shares of the Unitedhealth Group plunge into the report on the study by Doj

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Shares of Unitedhealth Group On Thursday, more than 13% fell according to a report that the Ministry of Justice carried out a criminal investigation by the health giant about possible Medicare fraud.

The doj focuses on the business practices of the Medicare Advantage company, but the exact type of potential criminal allegations is unclear, the Wall Street Journal reported late Wednesday, with the reference to people who are familiar with the matter.

In a statement, the Unitedhealth Group said that the Ministry of Justice had not informed it about the reported probe and described the reporting of the newspaper “deeply irresponsible”.

The company also said: “We are on the integrity of our Medicare Advantage program.”

It is the second time this year that the insurer's Medicare Advantage business was examined. The magazine reported in February that the DOJ carried out a civilian examination Whether the company has inflated diagnoses to trigger additional payments for its Medicare Advantage plans.

The Medicare and Retirement segment of Unitedhealthcare, which includes the Medicare Advantage Business, is the largest sales driver of the Unitedhealth Group, which has achieved sales of $ 139 billion last year.

The reported examination also follows the surprise outcome of the CEO of the Unitedhealth Group, Andrew Witty, who is replaced by the former long -time managing director of the company, Stephen Hemsley.

The shares of the Unitedhealth Group have dropped approximately 49% this year after a series of setbacks for the company.

In just one month, the UnitedHealth Group lost more than $ 300 billion of its market capitalization of $ 600 billion, said Jared Holz, Equity Strategist Mizuho Health Care share strategist, on Thursday in an email. He said there is a certain risk that the company from Dow Jones's industrial average will be removed at some point “at some point”, unless there are greater indications of greater consistency “.

The Unitedhealth Group also had a turbulent 2024, which dealt with a historical cyber attack, a higher medical cost and the electricity of public setback after the murder of the CEO of Unitedhealthcare, Brian Thompson.