Investigate United Healthcare!

Senators launch ‘major’ investigation into UnitedHealth’s nursing home pay practices

Ever wonder why skilled nursing facilities seem to be so dangerous for the vulnerable adults receiving care there? One answer stems from the health companies that handle nursing home payments—one of which is currently being investigated by U.S. Senators.

The largest health company in the nation, UnitedHealth Group, is reported to be pursuing disturbing health programs for residents in nursing facilities. These programs include efforts to limit all kinds of hospitalizations and to incentivize facilities to vaccinate a certain number of residents in influenza and pneumococcal. Reports published earlier this year also state that UHG pushed residents to sign “Do not Resuscitate” or “Do Not Intubate” orders to help keep hospital costs down and line the pockets of the company’s leaders with more profit.

If skilled nursing facilities actually practice and accomplish these new goals laid out by the health care giant, countless vulnerable adults will be much worse off than before. However, the UHG Company continues to encourage their nursing home operators to overlook the necessary care of individuals and pursue these programs in return for hundreds of thousands of dollars.

While the Department of Justice declined to pursue the matter, Senators Ron Wyden (D-OR) and Elizabeth Warren (D-MA), wrote a letter to UHG CEO, Stephen J. Hemsley “in response to alarming reports” of UHG’s “padding revenues” via programs that “imperil the health, safety, and lives of vulnerable seniors and people with disabilities in nursing homes.”

Americans should be hopeful that this congressional investigation into UHG is productive, but it’s also just as important that we remain aware that these practices and incentives are taking place in the first place. These are the homes we send our vulnerable family members to, and we must spread awareness off UHG’s cost-cutting practices that are known to put seniors at higher risk.

I-SNPs, or Institutional Special Needs Plans, are another cause for concern, as these plans are another addition to UHG’s dangerous new policies. I-SNPs are higher usage of physical restraints, antipsychotics, resident falls, and (as if that’s not enough) a general “decline in function of nursing home residents.” This was all listed in the Democratic lawmaker’s letter, which asks for clear responses to at least 43 questions regarding UHG’s recent policies.

Americans should not expect the nursing homes or health care facilities to change their actions to be more morally right anytime soon, as UnitedHealth denied all wrongdoing. This is unsurprising, as health care facilities have repeatedly shown Americans their willingness to overlook the well-being of members in return for payment of any amount. Ultimately, while the U.S. should hope to be effective in reprimanding corrupt health care facilities, Americans should also seek better solutions when searching for ways to care for their loved ones than instead of supporting greedy and dangerous skilled nursing facilities.