There’s new leadership at the nation’s largest healthcare company, but the transition brings a familiar face back to the helm after a tumultuous year for UnitedHealth Group.
Ten notes:
1. UnitedHealth Group CEO Andrew Witty stepped down on May 13 for “personal reasons” after serving as CEO since 2021. He will continue to serve as a senior advisor.
2. Mr. Witty has been replaced by UnitedHealth board chair and former CEO Stephen Hemsley, who served in the top spot from 2006 to 2017. He will remain board chair. Mr. Hemsley first joined UnitedHealth as COO in 1997 and became president in 1999.
3. In April, UnitedHealth reduced its 2025 earnings outlook from $28.15 to $28.65 per share and adjusted net earnings of $29.50 to $30.00 per share, to $24.65 to $25.15 per share and adjusted earnings of $26 to $26.50 per share. As recently as January, the company had reaffirmed its original guidance and projected revenues of up to $455 billion by the end of the year.
Along with the CEO transition, the company said May 13 it was suspending its 2025 outlook “as medical expenditures expected to be higher than anticipated.” UnitedHealth expects to return to growth in 2026.
“UnitedHealth Group has tremendous opportunities to grow as we continue to help improve health care and to perform to our potential — and, in so doing, return to our long-term growth objective of 13% to 16%,” Mr. Hemsley said.
4. In its “unusual and unacceptable” first quarter performance for 2025, the company said it was caught off guard by care utilization rates twice as high as expected among its Medicare Advantage membership, especially for outpatient and physician services. A significant driver of the increase came from the company’s group MA business, particularly within its public sector retiree plans.
Additionally, Optum Health, the company’s care delivery division that serves Medicare enrollees under value-based care models, faced challenges as new members from other MA plans, which had exited markets last year due to federal reimbursement changes, came on board. Mr. Witty told investors that many of these members had not been as engaged with their prior plans, which complicated Optum’s ability to assess their health needs and reimburse services accurately.
5. In the first quarter, the company’s total revenues were $109.6 billion, and profits were nearly $6.3 billion. The company’s medical loss ratio was 84.8% in Q1, compared to 84.3% the year prior. The full year MLR was previously projected to be 87.5%.
6. UnitedHealth has faced unprecedented challenges over the past year, from the targeted killing of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson to a crippling cyberattack on subsidiary Change Healthcare. The two events heightened public scrutiny around the company from lawmakers, the media and consumers, and sparked a broader reckoning about the role of insurers within the healthcare system.
7. In May, an investor filed a proposed class action against the company, alleging that its executives concealed the fallout from the murder of Mr. Thompson and how it was affecting the business, resulting in substantial losses for shareholders.
The investor lawsuit comes shortly after California’s largest pension fund amended a similar complaint filed last year, alleging that UnitedHealth misled investors about its Medicare Advantage billing practices, including upcoding that inflated revenue by falsely diagnosing patients.
8. In February, The Wall Street Journal reported that the Justice Department is investigating UnitedHealth’s MA billing practices amid the allegations that the company inflated charges to maximize reimbursements. UnitedHealth has denied the existence of such an investigation.
The DOJ is also investigating the relationship between UnitedHealthcare and Optum, and the agency is suing to block the company’s planned $3.3 billion acquisition of home health provider Amedisys.
In addition, the DOJ is urging a federal court to allow a decade-old lawsuit against UnitedHealth Group to continue, which alleges the company overcharged the federal government through Medicare Advantage claims. In March, a retired judge appointed by the court to evaluate the case recommended the case be thrown out, writing that the government failed to prove that the claims detailed in the case were not backed by medical records.
9. Other leadership at UnitedHealth includes President and CFO, John Rex, and Tim Noel as CEO of UnitedHealthcare. Patrick Conway, MD, is CEO of Optum, Optum Health is led by Amar Desai, MD, and Optum Insight is led by Roger Connor.
10. As of March 31, UnitedHealth’s total U.S. membership stands at 50.1 million. Commercial membership includes 30 million people. There are nearly 7.6 million Medicaid members, 8.2 million Medicare Advantage members, and 4.3 million members with Medicare supplement plans. Medicare Part D membership is 2.8 million.
The company employs more than 381,000 people around the globe, including more than 274,000 in the U.S.
