UnitedHealth Group pays its own physician practices much more than it pays competing practices, a new study finds, reinforcing STAT’s own analysis on the subject and presenting fresh evidence that the conglomerate may be skirting a rule designed to curb health insurer profits. UnitedHealth’s insurance arm, UnitedHealthcare, pays practices under its UnitedHealth-owned Optum umbrella 17% more on average for common services than it pays non-Optum practices in the same region, according to the study, published in Health Affairs. In areas where its insurance arm has a large market share, it pays Optum practices 61% more.
Read the full article: UnitedHealth Pays Its Own Physician Groups 17% More Than Outside Ones, Study Shows //
Source: https://www.statnews.com/2025/11/03/unitedhealth-pays-its-optum-physicians-17-percent-more/