UnitedHealth Group Incorporated NYSE: UNH is a managed health care company. It is the parent of United Healthcare, one of the largest health insurers in the U.S.. It was created in 1977, as UnitedHealthCare Corporation (it renamed itself in 1998), but traces its origin to a firm it acquired in 1977, Charter Med Incorporated, which was founded in 1974. In 1979, it introduced the first network-based health plan for seniors. In 1984, it became a publicly traded company. A public company usually refers to a company which is permitted to offer its securities (stock, bonds, etc. ... The New York Stock Exchange (NYSE), nicknamed the Big Board, is a New York City-based stock exchange. ... Also: 1977 (album) by Ash. ... Location in Hennepin County Coordinates: Country United States State Minnesota County Hennepin County Founded 1850s Incorporated 1956  - Mayor Jan Callison Area    - City  28. ... Look up care, carer in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ... People for Legal and Non-Sectarian Schools (PLANS), based principally in San Francisco, U.S. and on the Web [1], campaigns against the public funding of Waldorf methods charter schools, and against Waldorf education generally. ... Look up care, carer in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ... Wikibooks has more about this subject: Marketing In economics and marketing, a service is the non-material equivalent of a good. ... Concept B is a specialization of concept A if and only if: every instance of concept B is also an instance of concept A; and there are instances of concept A which are not instances of concept B. For instance, Bird is a specialization of Animal because every bird is... Look up care, carer in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ... Wikibooks has more about this subject: Marketing In economics and marketing, a service is the non-material equivalent of a good. ... Revenue is a U.S. business term for the amount of money that a company earns from its activities in a given period, mostly from sales of products and/or services to customers. ... Image File history File links No higher resolution available. ... ISO 4217 Code USD User(s) the United States, the British Indian Ocean Territory,[1] the British Virgin Islands, Cambodia, East Timor, Ecuador, El Salvador, the Marshall Islands, Micronesia, Palau, Panama, Turks and Caicos Islands, and the insular areas of the United States Inflation 2. ... 2005 (MMV) was a common year starting on Saturday of the Gregorian calendar. ... Earnings before interest and taxes (EBIT), also known as operating income and operating profit, is a term used to describe a companys earnings. ... Image File history File links No higher resolution available. ... ISO 4217 Code USD User(s) the United States, the British Indian Ocean Territory,[1] the British Virgin Islands, Cambodia, East Timor, Ecuador, El Salvador, the Marshall Islands, Micronesia, Palau, Panama, Turks and Caicos Islands, and the insular areas of the United States Inflation 2. ... 2005 (MMV) was a common year starting on Saturday of the Gregorian calendar. ... Net income is equal to the income that a firm has after subtracting costs and expenses from the total revenue. ... Image File history File links No higher resolution available. ... ISO 4217 Code USD User(s) the United States, the British Indian Ocean Territory,[1] the British Virgin Islands, Cambodia, East Timor, Ecuador, El Salvador, the Marshall Islands, Micronesia, Palau, Panama, Turks and Caicos Islands, and the insular areas of the United States Inflation 2. ... 2005 (MMV) was a common year starting on Saturday of the Gregorian calendar. ... For the album by the Kaiser Chiefs see Employment (album) Employment is a contract between two parties, one being the employer and the other being the employee. ... For the Manfred Mann album, see 2006 (album). ... A website (alternatively, Web site) is a collection of Web pages, images, videos and other digital assets that is hosted on a Web server, usually accessible via the Internet or a LAN. A Web page is a document, typically written in HTML, that is almost always accessible via HTTP, a... The New York Stock Exchange (NYSE), nicknamed the Big Board, is a New York City-based stock exchange. ... In health care, managed health care is the idea that the service that is provided by a hospital ooup of clinics may be managed by an external company. ...

In 2005, William W. McGuire, M.D., its CEO, earned $124 million. His compensation in the five years 2001-2005 was $341 million. He was the CEO from 1989 -- when annual revenues were just over $400 million -- to 1 December 2006, when he was replaced as CEO by Stephen Hemsley due to allegations of options backdating done to favor UHC executives such as McGuire (see Options Backdating section below). William W. McGuireis the CEO of UnitedHealth Group Inc. ... December 1 is the 335th (in leap years the 336th) day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ... For the Manfred Mann album, see 2006 (album). ... Options backdating is the process of granting an employee stock option that is dated prior to the date that the company granted that option. ...

In 1995, the company acquired The MetraHealth Companies Inc. for $1.65 billion. MetraHealth was a privately held company formed by combining the group health care operations of The Travelers Insurance Company and Metropolitan Life Insurance Company.

In December 2005, the company received final regulatory approval for its $9.2 billion purchase of PacifiCare Health Systems. It agreed to divest parts of PacifiCare's commercial health insurance business in Tucson, Arizona and Boulder, Colorado to satisfy antitrust regulator concerns, and also agreed to end its network access agreement with Blue Shield of California. PacifiCare Health Systems (former NYSE ticker PHS) was a Fortune 500 healthcare company based in Cypress, California. ... Nickname: The Old Pueblo Location in Pima County and the state of Arizona Coordinates: Country United States State Arizona Counties Pima Government  - Mayor Bob Walkup (R) Area  - City  195. ... The City of Boulder ( , Mountain Time Zone) is a home rule municipality located in Boulder County, Colorado, United States. ... This article is about anti-competitive business behavior. ... To meet Wikipedias quality standards, this article or section may require cleanup. ...

Options backdating investigations and lawsuits

Main article: Options backdating

In 2006, the Securities and Exchange Commission began investigating the conduct of United Health's management and directors, as did the Internal Revenue Service and prosecutors in the U.S. attorney's office for the Southern District of New York, who have subpoenaed documents from the company. The investigations came to light after a series of probing stories in the Wall Street Journal in May 2006, discussing apparent backdating of hundreds of millions of dollars' worth of stock options by United Health management. The backdating apparently occurred with the knowledge and approval of the directors, according to the Journal. Major shareholders have filed lawsuits accusing former New Jersey governor Thomas Kean and UHC's other directors of failing in their fiduciary duty.^[1][2] On 15 October 2006, Dr. McGuire was forced to resign, and relinquish hundreds of millions of dollars in stock options. Options backdating is the process of granting an employee stock option that is dated prior to the date that the company granted that option. ... The Securities and Exchange Commission, commonly referred to as the SEC, is the United States governing body which has primary responsibility for overseeing the regulation of the securities industry. ... Seal of the Internal Revenue Service The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) is the United States federal government agency that collects taxes and enforces the internal revenue laws. ... The Wall Street Journal is an influential international daily newspaper published in New York City, New York with an average daily circulation of 1,800,607 (2002). ... May 2006 : ← - January - February - March - April - May - June - July - August - September - October - November - December- → May 1, 2006 (Monday) Chinese Patriotic Catholic Association outraged Vatican by planning to ordain another bishop, Liu Xinhong in Anhui Province. ... Options backdating is the process of granting an employee stock option that is dated prior to the date that the company granted that option. ... Official language(s) English de facto Capital Trenton Largest city Newark Area  Ranked 47th  - Total 8,729 sq mi (22,608 km²)  - Width 70 miles (110 km)  - Length 150 miles (240 km)  - % water 14. ... Thomas Howard Kean (born April 21, 1935) is an American Republican Party politician, who served as the 48th Governor of New Jersey, from 1982 to 1990. ...

The American Chiropractic Association has filed a national class action lawsuit against ACN, ( American Chiropractic Network) which is owned by United Healthcare and administers chiropractic benefits, and United Healthcare for alleged practices in violation of the federal RICO act.

Trivia

• UNH is one of Mad Money host Jim Cramer's favorite stocks (and one he owns for his charitable trust). He frequently refers to himself as "Doctor UNH".
• Even though they are based in Minnesota, they are not allowed to sell insurance within Minnesota. This is because state law limits that to non-profit organizations (e.g., Blue Cross, Blue Shield)

Mad Money is an American business television program hosted by James Cramer that began airing on the CNBC cable/satellite TV channel on Monday, March 14, 2005. ... James J. Jim Cramer (b. ...

References

1. ^ "A Board With Its Back To The Wall: UnitedHealth directors aren't ready to oust embattled CEO McGuire. Here's why", Business Week, July 10, 2006
2. ^ Joe Conason, Jersey hustler: Why did former Gov. Kean, once a respected statesman, mislead the public and the press about the accuracy of ABC's 'Path to 9/11'?", Salon magazine, September 15, 2006

External links

• UnitedHealth Group Official Web Site.
• UnitedHealth Group at NNDB.
• UnitedHealth Group stock quote & chart