The Justice Department has launched a civil fraud investigation into UnitedHealth Group's Medicare billing practices. The probe focuses on how the company records diagnoses that increase federal payments to its Medicare Advantage plans. Reports from The Wall Street Journal revealed that questionable diagnoses by UnitedHealth-employed doctors resulted in billions of dollars in additional payments. Allegations include training physicians to document revenue-generating diagnoses, using software to suggest conditions, and incentivizing doctors to list these conditions. The investigation comes amid broader scrutiny of UnitedHealth, including an antitrust probe and a lawsuit to block its acquisition of Amedisys.
