UnitedHealth Used Aggressive Diagnosing Strategy to Boost Federal Funding for Medicare Advantage: Senate Report

UnitedHealth Used Aggressive Diagnosing Strategy to Boost Federal Funding for Medicare Advantage: Senate Report

UnitedHealth Group uses aggressive tactics to maximize federal payments by capturing high-paying, often discretionary, medical diagnoses, according to a report by the Senate Judiciary Committee. The insurer uses high-tech scanners and a team of specialists to identify problems in enrollees—including minor ones—to ensure the insurer obtains the maximum funding possible, even if that money is not used to treat the added diagnoses, according to the…

UnitedHealth used aggressive tactics to boost Medicare payments, Senate report finds

(WSJ via MSN) – UnitedHealth Group deployed aggressive tactics to collect payment-boosting diagnoses for its Medicare Advantage members, a Senate committee investigating the company’s practices said. In Medicare Advantage, the federal government pays insurers a lump sum to oversee medical benefits for seniors and disabled people. The government pays extra for patients with certain costly medical conditions, a process called risk adjustment. The …