Here are 10 updates on UnitedHealth Group's recent operations, publications and legal dealings reported by Becker's Hospital Review since August.
1. A contract dispute between UnitedHealth and physician staffing company TeamHealth could indirectly affect hospitals and other providers, according to credit rating agency Moody's Investors Service.
2. The United Health Foundation, UnitedHealth's philanthropic arm, is partnering with The Health Wagon, a Wise, Va.-based free clinic for the underserved areas of the Appalachian region.
3. In a new report, UnitedHealth said shifting specialty drug administration away from hospital settings could reduce expenses by $4 billion annually.
4. The U.S. government asked a federal judge on Aug. 20 to dismiss allegations that a UnitedHealth unit violated the False Claims Act by committing hospital billing fraud.
5. UnitedHealth's insurance arm, UnitedHealthcare, saw its Medicare Advantage membership grow to 5.2 million in the second quarter of fiscal year 2019, up 8.4 percent year over year.
6. UnitedHealth recorded total revenues of $60.6 billion in the second quarter ended June 30, up 8 percent from $56.1 billion in the same quarter a year prior.
7. UnitedHealth released new data showing that the cost of hospital inpatient services for privately insured individuals is on the rise.
8. UnitedHealth's Optum announced it is partnering with John Muir Health to help the system remain independent and become more competitive in the San Francisco Bay Area.
9. UnitedHealth published an analysis showing that each time a patient enters the emergency department with a condition that can be treated in a primary care setting, it comes at an average cost of $2,032 to the healthcare system.
10. UnitedHealth's guidelines for covering behavioral health treatment and reevaluating denied claims should be changed, plaintiffs in a class-action lawsuit against the insurer said in a rebuttal.
More articles on payers:
United-TeamHealth snafu may have industrywide effects: Moody's
Tennessee hospital employees lose insurance
Horizon BCBS sues physician advocacy group over 'smear campaign'