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STAT+: UnitedHealth continues making stealthy deals, pushing deeper into medical care as scrutiny mounts

STAT

UnitedHealth Group, the largest health care company in the U.S.,   The sprawling conglomerate — which owns a major health insurance company, physician practices, a pharmacy benefit manager, and numerous other firms — acquired or created more than 250 subsidiaries in 2024.

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STAT+: The Covid-19 test maker that pivoted to being a health insurance company

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But that business is now firmly in the past, and the company has switched to an even more regulated industry: health insurance. Curative rose to prominence during the throes of the pandemic, as people and governments across the country used its Covid-19 tests. Last year, Curative had a cloud hanging over its head.

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STAT+: Health insurers’ rapid adoption of AI tools is outpacing regulators’ ability to keep watch

STAT

Inside the nation’s largest health insurance companies, artificial intelligence is taking off like a rocket. Elevance, which covers about 110 million people, has rolled out a generative AI model to 50,000 employees.

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STAT+: Oscar Health’s CEO on post-hype health insurance and finally turning a profit

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Oscar Health has excelled at one thing in particular since its inception a decade ago: burning cash. The health insurance company did not plan to be profitable immediately. It was staking its future on the new Affordable Care Act marketplaces and had to grow quickly to compete with larger insurance carriers.

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The stability of $0 premiums in Medicare Advantage

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Arbitration, the land where nobody is happy After Congress officially outlawed most types of surprise medical bills last year, there’s been endless, litigious debate as to how health insurance companies and providers should settle their differences while patients are held harmless.

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STAT+: Medicare Advantage market expected to grow in 2025, despite big changes from insurers

STAT

Health insurance companies will still offer older adults a lot of plan choices with low, or completely free, premiums. Next year’s Medicare Advantage market will be two things at once: remarkably stable broadly, but rife with changes under the surface.

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STAT+: How UnitedHealth harnesses its physician empire to squeeze profits out of patients

STAT

UnitedHealth Group started out as a small, Minnesota health insurance company and has since morphed into a modern-day Standard Oil, exerting unmatched dominance over health care in the United States.