Internal document shows how UnitedHealth executives prepared to tamp down investor unrest Company accidentally sent STAT a confidential memo with talking points for shareholder meeting

https://www.statnews.com/2025/06/04/unitedhealth-group-accidentally-emails-confidential-talking-points-to-reporter/?utm_campaign=morning_rounds&utm_medium=email&_hsenc=p2ANqtz-9D32LVMU0o2pAZGX-W0nMI5vkALSQtiQPBvLBRMdqcug01xB-AB6oIK7VlGBO-6MnvBK8NQyYqCgo2IdAlK1qn9V8LUA&_hsmi=365023293&utm_content=365023293&utm_source=hs_email An internal document drafted in advance of UnitedHealth Group’s shareholder meeting this week reveals how the company’s leadership — facing an extraordinary series of financial and legal challenges — sought to downplay complaints about its business practices and assure jittery investors that it will soon return to maximum profitability. https://www.statnews.com/2025/02/25/unitedhealth-facing-security-threats-customer-backlash-starts-pushing-back-on-critics/?utm_campaign=morning_rounds&utm_medium=email&_hsenc=p2ANqtz-_Kujtzv0hRhEGfd1AtlcjihKC1ptut4Iq8EAIdZFQouMNWdrfu7q7mFddctdfNEz4QmHNKy3ocyQGZSJfwhOy05x5_vQ&_hsmi=365023293&utm_content=365023293&utm_source=hs_email The 18-page document, marked in red “privileged and confidential,” was mistakenly sent by a UnitedHealth spokesperson to STAT’s Casey Ross, who had emailed with questions for a different story. The memo runs through manicured talking points apparently intended to coordinate the response to shareholders’ questions. It also discusses missed revenue targets, a litany of lawsuits and federal investigations, and concerns revealed in reporting by STAT that the company uses artificial intelligence and bureaucratic barriers to delay and deny care. Casey said he was “stunned” upon seeing the email. “As a reporter, you understand that these activities take place within publicly traded companies,” he said. “But it is another thing entirely to get an unvarnished, behind-the-scenes window.” Read more from Casey, Tara Bannow, and Bob Herman. And it’s never a bad time to re-read some of the team’s excellent, award-winning coverage on the company: Part 1 of the latest series, “Health Care’s Colossus,” looked at how UnitedHealth leveraged its physician empire to squeeze profits out of patients. Here’s a video explainer on how it works. https://www.statnews.com/unitedhealth-group-investigation-health-care-colossus-series/?utm_campaign=morning_rounds&utm_medium=email&_hsenc=p2ANqtz-_Y2yTXMmPz9-PzJc8JoppJEgt4bnZISjxP-QX0GwkiJRt97_H7BPCkAy45cJPnR0lXPGhF-PUzbTNfg5Y1gL_U73fanA&_hsmi=365023293&utm_content=365023293&utm_source=hs_email Part 2 looked at how UnitedHealth turned a questionable artery-screening program into a moneymaker. https://www.statnews.com/2024/08/07/unitedhealth-peripheral-artery-disease-screening-program-medicare-advantage-gold-mine/?utm_campaign=morning_rounds&utm_medium=email&_hsenc=p2ANqtz-82XVZZQgi8X2qsdNpjET8hm9reZZLfhBHK-z-lPPb1oPBhEwfEMjNyy4iAVFTcKHiapU6ozJeV6WhT5Xy_MnrkwrEIlQ&_hsmi=365023293&utm_content=365023293&utm_source=hs_email STAT’s 2023 “Denied by AI” UnitedHealth series began with how Medicare Advantage plans use algorithms to cut off care for seniors. The series continued with a story on internal dissent at UnitedHealth, and pressure to follow the algorithm on discharge decisions. The final installment looked at the use of secret rules to restrict rehab care.