While Luigi Mangione today stands trial for the killing of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson, the U.S. Justice Department is launching a civil fraud investigation into the conglomerate’s Medicare billing practices. The probe evaluates whether UnitedHealth’s system accurately records diagnoses, The Wall Street Journal reports, especially as some lead to higher revenue for the company.
UnitedHealth is a $400 billion corporation that owns the largest U.S. health insurer, United Healthcare, along with a number of other health-related services. The DOJ’s scrutiny surrounds its practices' recording diagnoses, which trigger payments to its Medicare Advantage plans.
Medicare Advantage plans are private insurance options for seniors offering more benefits than regular Medicare, such as additional coverage for dental, vision, and hearing plans. In 2024, over half of Medicare users, or 32.8 million people, were enrolled in Medicare Advantage plans; the U.S. government pays private insurers a lump sum payment to oversee these plans.
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