(Bloomberg) -- UnitedHealth Group Inc. shares fell early Friday after a report that the US Justice Department has begun investigating the insurer’s billing practices in recent months.
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The department’s civil fraud probe is looking at how UnitedHealth records diagnoses that lead to higher payments from the government’s Medicare Advantage program, the Wall Street Journal reported, citing people familiar with the matter.
UnitedHealth shares fell as much as 8.9% before US markets opened. They had lost 0.7% this year through Thursday’s close.
The government has been scrutinizing costs in Medicare Advantage, a privately administered version of the Medicare senior health program. Congressional Medicare advisers have raised concerns about how the program’s payment system can be manipulated, declaring an “urgent need for a major overhaul,” in a 2024 report.
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