US Senators Wyden, Warren launch probe into UnitedHealth over alleged nursing home payments
In a letter dated August 6 to UnitedHealth CEO Stephen Hemsley, the senators called on the healthcare conglomerate to provide detailed information about its reported incentive programming and its impact on residents.
The company in July publicly confirmed it was under investigation by the U.S. Department of Justice and said it was complying with both criminal and civil requests from the federal agency over its Medicare business, a U.S. government program that covers medical costs for individuals aged 65 and older and those with disabilities.
The senators have sought responses by September 8 about the company's hospitalization policies, directives related to care planning for nursing home residents enrolled in their institutional special needs plans, marketing practices related to those plans and federal oversight related to them.
In May, the UK's Guardian newspaper reported the company made secret payments to nursing homes, as part of a series of cost-cutting tactics that saved the company millions, but at times risked residents' health, citing an investigation carried out by the newspaper.
"Any attempt to take advantage of vulnerable nursing home residents is unacceptable, especially to pad a for-profit insurance company's revenues," the senators said in the letter.
At that time, UnitedHealth had said the U.S. Department of Justice had investigated those allegations, interviewed witnesses, and obtained thousands of documents that demonstrated the significant factual inaccuracies in the allegations.
UnitedHealth did not immediately respond to a Reuters request for comment when contacted on Thursday.
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