DoJ's Medicare Fraud Lawsuit Against UnitedHealth "Lacks Any Evidence"; New Finding Suggests

Shares of UnitedHealth Group rose in the late morning cash session after Bloomberg reported a "major finding" in the US Department of Justice lawsuit accusing the healthcare company of overbilling Medicare by billions of dollars.

Suzanne Segal, a retired judge who has served as a special master or discovery referee in cases involving the False Claims Act, mass tort and insurance claims, patent litigation, and product liability claims, found that the DoJ "lacked any evidence" to support allegations that UnitedHealth failed to return money received through the Medicare Advantage program, which serves millions of patients.

DoJ alleges that UnitedHealth failed to remove unsupported diagnosis codes from patient records and increased payments from the government for private Medicare Advantage plans in an overbilling scheme totaling $2.1 billion. 

Shares have tumbled into a bear market, down as much as 22% since early December when Luigi Mangione was accused of fatally shooting UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson in Manhattan. The Bloomberg report provided a 2% lift. 

Last month, UnitedHealth denied a Wall Street Journal report claiming the DOJ had launched a new probe into the company's Medicare billing practices, calling the report "misinformation."

While this development is a positive step for UnitedHealth, the final ruling remains in the hands of a federal judge.