That is half 5 of Well being Care’s Colossus, a collection about how UnitedHealth Group wields its unequalled doctor empire to spice up its income and develop its affect.
UnitedHealth Group is paying a lot of its personal doctor practices considerably greater than it pays different physician teams in the identical markets for comparable companies, undermining competitors and driving up prices for shoppers and companies, a STAT investigation reveals.
The findings, drawn from a pattern of practices throughout the nation, expose the results of a deepening battle of curiosity: Quite than use its measurement and market energy to drive down the price of care, UnitedHealth, as the company guardian of each a dominant insurance coverage firm and well being care supplier, can seize bigger income by paying itself larger costs for fundamental checkups, surgical procedures, and procedures.
STAT uncovered the above-market funds in a first-of-its-kind evaluation carried out in partnership with well being analytics firm Tribunus Well being. The evaluation examined UnitedHealth’s personal information, which should be reported to the federal authorities, exhibiting what its industrial insurance coverage unit pays 16 of its Optum-branded physician teams for widespread or costly companies that account for essentially the most spending.
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