Summary

Three UnitedHealth-owned companies—HealthMarkets and its subsidiaries—were ordered to pay over $165 million for deceptive practices in Massachusetts between 2012 and 2016.

A Suffolk County judge ruled they violated the Massachusetts Consumer Protection Act by misleading consumers into buying unnecessary supplemental insurance, with agents trained to obscure costs.

The penalties include $50.1 million in restitution and $115.1 million in civil penalties, the largest ever under the state’s consumer protection law.

UnitedHealthcare plans to appeal.

  • jagged_circle@feddit.nl
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    2 hours ago

    Sounds like they need more than a slap on the wrist.

    Who is the current CEO, again? When is the next conference they’re attending?

  • jared
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    20 hours ago

    Fuck UnitedHealthcare!

    • Capt. Wolf@lemmy.world
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      19 hours ago

      And that’s just this quarter… What they made over the course of those 4 years is in the trillions. What they were ordered to pay in restitution was maybe around 0.0025% of their total earnings.

  • finley@lemm.ee
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    18 hours ago

    Oh great, they have to pay a fine that’s a fraction of the profit they make per day. That’ll teach ‘em!

    Worst yet, it’s probably tax deductible.

  • very_well_lost@lemmy.world
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    20 hours ago

    $165 million

    Would you believe this is only 0.04% of UHC’s total revenue in 2024? What a wild fucking system we live in that 165 MILLION DOLLARS is just a slap on the wrist…

    • halcyoncmdr@lemmy.world
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      20 hours ago

      And they’ll increase premiums across the board by 1% permanently to cover the cost and increase profit. The line must go up.