united healthcare really needs to hire a better pr firm; everything I read about it, makes Luigi Mangione come across more sympathetically!

By Grand Rapids Anonymous
wednesday, may 21, 2025 at 12:53:00 a.m. edt

Not too long ago, the stock price was plunging, the ceo quit, then I lost track.

Another pointless, multi-billion-dollar fine coming up? They’ll write a check and send money out of thin air. Meaningless.

--GRA


united healthcare pushed “keeping nursing home residents out of hospitals,” whether they needed that care or not; bonuses paid to homes that followed that command

By Grand Rapids Anonymous
wednesday, may 21, 2025 at 11:49:00 a.m. edt

united healthcare pushed “keeping nursing home residents out of hospitals,” whether they needed that care or not; bonuses paid to homes that followed that edict

“(zh) unitedhealth group shares dropped as much as 7.5% in premarket trading wednesday in new york, following a guardian investigation that revealed the health insurer shelled out ‘premium dividend’ and ‘shared savings’ bonuses [N.S.: kickbacks?] to nursing homes that reduced hospital transfers for sick residents.

“the guardian’s investigation is based on thousands of confidential corporate and patient records obtained through sources, public records requests, and court filings, along with interviews with nearly two dozen current and former unitedhealth and nursing home employees, as well as two whistleblower declarations submitted to congress.

“the report offers a new snapshot into unitedhealth’s daily operations at nearly 2,000 nursing homes across the country, where it manages medicare advantage coverage for more than 55,000 long-term residents.

“here are some of the key findings from the report:

“unitedhealth stationed in-house medical teams at nearly 2,000 nursing homes, incentivizing them to lower hospitalizations through financial rewards like ‘premium dividend’ and ‘shared savings’ payments tied to hospitalization rates.

“internal records show unitedhealth monitored nursing homes using ‘admits per thousand (apk)’ metrics and set ‘budgets’ for hospitalizations. facilities with high apks were denied bonuses.

“in multiple documented cases, patients were denied urgent hospital care, leading to serious harm, including permanent brain damage. whistleblowers say these incidents were hidden or minimized.

“nurse practitioners were pressured to push ‘no not resuscitate’ (dnr) orders, even when patients had previously expressed the desire for life-saving treatments.

“unitedhealth also incentivized increased enrollment in its institutional special needs plans by offering large payments to nursing homes, which in some cases leaked confidential patient data to help sales teams directly solicit families—often bypassing consent rules.

“the guardian noted:

“in several cases identified by the guardian, nursing home residents who needed immediate hospital care under the program failed to receive it, after interventions from unitedhealth staffers. at least one lived with permanent brain damage following his delayed transfer, according to a confidential nursing home incident log, recordings and photo evidence.

“a current unitedhealth nurse practitioner, who recently submitted a congressional complaint regarding the nursing home program, stated:

“no one is truly investigating when a patient suffers harm. absolutely no one.

“these incidents are hidden, downplayed and minimized. the sense is: ‘well, they’re medically frail, and no one lives for ever.’”

GRA: I’ve seen it personally, the lack of quality care and the incompetence. I was at my mom’s nursing home 12 hours a day, while she rehabilitated and I advocated in her behalf. The staff there hated my guts. Too many blacks “working” there was part of the problem. I cooked at my house for my mom and brought it in, because the food was inedible at this particular “home.” Other residents weren’t so lucky. Plate after plate of uneaten breakfasts, lunches, and dinners were stacked on tables in eating areas. My line was: If you want to go to a place to lose weight, go to a nursing home. Luigi had a point after all.

--GRA