UnitedHealth Group, the largest health insurer in the United States, has built a vast physician empire that it leverages to maximize profits, often at the expense of patient care and healthcare costs. Here’s how UnitedHealth harnesses its physician network:

1. Scale and Influence: UnitedHealth now employs or influences approximately 1 in 10 U.S. doctors – around 90,000 clinicians – giving it unparalleled control over medical practices[1][2][3].
2. Medicare Advantage Exploitation: UnitedHealth uses its control over doctors to manipulate the Medicare Advantage payment system. The company encourages physicians to make patients appear as sick as possible through aggressive medical coding, which increases the “risk scores” of patients and leads to higher government payouts[1][2].
3. Pressure on Physicians: Doctors report being pressured by UnitedHealth to:

• See up to four patients per hour, limiting time for proper care[2]
• Identify more health problems in patients, even if conditions seem dubious[2]
• Focus on medical coding to generate more revenue[2]

1. Vertical Integration: UnitedHealth has acquired multiple pieces of the healthcare industry, allowing it to control everything from insurance to medical services to healthcare data and pharmaceuticals[4].
2. Financial Impact: Through these tactics, UnitedHealth has potentially extracted tens of billions of extra dollars from taxpayers over the past decade[2].
3. Patient Consequences: Patients experience rushed appointments, difficulty getting seen, and may find concerning diagnoses in their medical records that were never discussed with their doctors[2].
4. Regulatory Concerns: The Department of Justice has launched an antitrust investigation into the relationship between UnitedHealth’s insurance unit and its Optum healthcare services arm[4].

This strategy has transformed healthcare in many communities into an assembly line that treats patients as products to be monetized, prioritizing profit over quality care[2][3]. The company’s tactics have raised significant concerns about market dominance, patient care quality, and the overall cost of healthcare in the United States.

Citations:
[1] https://www.statnews.com/2024/07/25/video-explainer-insurance-companies-doctors-medical-codes/
[2] https://www.bostonglobe.com/2024/07/25/metro/unitedhealth-group-stat-investigation/
[3] https://www.statnews.com/2024/07/25/united-health-group-medicare-advantage-strategy-doctor-clinic-acquisitions/
[4] https://www.medpagetoday.com/opinion/prescriptionsforabrokensystem/109088
[5] https://www.warren.senate.gov/newsroom/press-releases/at-hearing-warren-blasts-unitedhealth-ceo-for-monopolistic-practices-that-raise-prices-stomp-out-competition-and-harm-patients