cycling team see unitedhealthcare cycling team . united health group inc. type public traded as nyse unh dow jones industrial average component s & p 500 component industry managed health care founded 1977 ; 39 years ago 1977 founder richard t. burke headquarters minnetonka minnesota u.s. key people richard t. burke chairman stephen j. hemsley ceo products uniprise health care services specialized care services and ingenix revenue us 157.1 billion 2015 1 operating income us 11.02 billion 2015 1 net income us 5.81 billion 2015 1 total assets us 111.4 billion 2015 1 total equity us 33.83 billion 2015 1 number of employees 200 000 2015 1 website www.unitedhealthgroup.com unitedhealth group inc. is an american diversified managed health care company based in minnetonka minnesota . it is 6th on the fortune 500 . 2 unitedhealth group offers a spectrum of products and services through two operating businesses unitedhealthcare and optum both subsidiaries of unitedhealth group . optum is a new business brand of unitedhealth group and operating business through business process outsourcing bpo services . unitedhealth group serves approximately 70 million individuals throughout the united states . in 2015 the company reported an operating income of 11 billion . 3 in 2011 j.d. power and associates gave unitedhealthcare the highest employer satisfaction rating for self insured health plans . 4 in a 2010 insurance industry publication business insurance magazine unitedhealthcare was named readers choice winner in 2010 for best health plan provider . 5 in contrast a 2010 survey of hospital executives who have dealt with the unitedhealthcare received a 65 % unfavorable rating . while this marks a 33 % improvement over the prior year s survey unitedhealthcare still ranked last among all listed . 6 contents 1 history 2 reorganization 2.1 prior to january 2011 2.2 the role of optum 2.3 in the united kingdom 3 health and government 3.1 health care reform 4 legal issues 4.1 optuminsight earlier known as ingenix 4.2 options backdating investigations and lawsuits 4.3 resignation of mcguire 4.4 mcguire s settlement with sec 5 policy research org . ownership 6 foundations 7 references 8 external links history edit health care in the united states government health programs federal employees health benefits program indian health service veterans health administration military health system tricare medicare medicaid state health insurance assistance program ship state children s health insurance program chip program of all inclusive care for the elderly pace prescription assistance spap private health coverage health insurance in the united states consumer driven health care flexible spending account fsa health reimbursement account health savings account hsa high deductible health plan hdhp medical savings account msa private fee for service pffs managed care ccp health maintenance organization hmo preferred provider organization ppo exclusive provider organization epo medical underwriting health care reform law emergency medical treatment and active labor act 1986 health insurance portability and accountability act 1996 medicare prescription drug improvement and modernization act 2003 patient safety and quality improvement act 2005 health information technology for economic and clinical health act 2009 patient protection and affordable care act 2010 state level reform massachusetts health care reform oregon health plan vermont health care reform sustinet connecticut dirigo health maine municipal health coverage fair share health care act maryland healthy howard howard co. maryland healthy san francisco my health la healthy way la this box view talk edit in 1974 richard tyagi burke founded charter med incorporated a minnetonka minnesota based privately held company . in 1977 unitedhealthcare corporation was created to reorganize the company and become the parent company of charter med . unitedhealthcare s charter was to manage the newly created physicians health plan of minnesota an early health management organization . 7 in 1994 unitedhealth sold its pharmacy benefit manager diversified pharmaceutical services to smithkline beecham for 2.3 billion . 8 also in 1994 unitedhealth acquired ramsey hmo a florida insurer . 9 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 also known as metlife . in 1996 united healthcare acquired healthwise of america which operated hmos in arkansas maryland kentucky and tennessee . 10 in 1998 unitedhealth group acquired healthpartners of arizona operator of arizona s largest ahcccs provider . 11 in 2001 evercare a unitedhealth group subsidiary merged with lifemark health plans 12 in 2002 unitedhealth group acquired medicaid insurance company americhoice . 13 in 2003 unitedhealth group acquired mid atlantic medical services an insurer serving maryland washington d.c. virginia delaware and west virginia . 14 also in 2003 unitedhealth group acquired golden rule financial a provider of health savings accounts . 15 optum bank started operating on july 21 2003 in salt lake city utah as a utah state chartered industrial loan corporation . originally named exante bank it changed its name to optumhealth bank in 2008 and to optum bank in 2012 . optum bank is part of the financial services unit of optum a health and wellness company serving more than 74 million people . optum is part of the unitedhealth group family of companies . 16 in april 2004 unitedhealth group acquired touchpoint health plan a wisconsin health plan . 17 in july 2004 unitedhealth group acquired oxford health plans and all of unitedhealthcare s new york based small group contracts are now oxford health plans products . 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 . 18 the tucson business was sold to cigna . 18 also in december 2005 unitedhealth group acquired john deere health care . 19 in march 2007 unitedhealth group signed a definitive agreement to acquire sierra health services inc. for 2.6 billion . sierra provided health benefits and services to 310 000 members in nevada and another 320 000 people in senior and government programs throughout the united states . as a condition of approval from the department of justice unitedhealth group was required to divest its individual securehorizons medicare advantage hmo plans in clark and nye counties which represent approximately 25 000 members . unitedhealth group reached an agreement to transition these members to humana inc. subject to customary closing conditions . 20 in july 2009 unitedhealth group inc. agreed to acquire health net inc. s hnt northeast licensed subsidiaries for up to 570 million in payments spread out over a two year period . 21 in july 2010 ingenix acquired picis inc. picis is a provider of health information solutions for the high acuity areas of hospitals . 22 in 2011 logistics health inc. of la crosse wisconsin was acquired by optumhealth 23 in september 2014 the office buildings where lhi is based were sold to unitedhealth group for 45 million . 24 25 in feb 2012 unitedhealth group inc. completed the xlhealth acquisition . xlhealth corporation is a sponsor of medicare advantage health plans with a primary focus on medicare recipients with special needs such as those with chronic illness and those eligible for medicaid dual eligibles . 26 in october 2012 unitedhealth group and amil participa es s.a. one of the biggest brazilian health insurance companies completed the first phase of their merger . 27 in march 2015 it was announced that catamaranrx will be acquired by optumrx a unitedhealth group company . 28 reorganization edit beginning in 2011 and continuing into 2012 unitedhealth group implemented an enterprise reorganization . this coincided with retiring brands adopted following the various acquisitions of prior years and adopting the unified brand of unitedhealthcare . the firm decided to refocus its uk business to concentrate solely on commissioning support under the name of optum and exploit the opportunities presented by the united kingdom government s nhs reforms in 2011 and sold its 6 primary care practices . 29 prior to january 2011 edit prior to january 2011 unitedhealth group had the following operating segments acme aka uniprise employer sponsored coverage . ovations senior and retiree services evercare coverage for medicare and medicaid recipients . americhoice coverage for medicare medicaid recipients . oxford coverage written on oxford licenses . golden rule individual plans spectera vision dbp dental benefit providers dental ubh united behavioral health behavioral health and substance abuse urn united resource network transplant care management ingenix health data analytics . pdv pacificare dental & vision dental & vision for members under pacificare license . prescription solutions pharmacy benefit manager initially only support ovations business unitedhealth care medical provider contracting and an umbrella name for general medical claims . the role of optum edit the role of the optum brand is expanded to include four divisions optum technology the innovation arm of optum and unitedhealth group ; this is a cross functional department across optuminsight optumrx and optumhealth . optuminsight health data analytics optumrx pharmacy benefit manager now includes most uhg membership optumhealth healthcare delivery services and support including optumcare home to the organizations acquired staff model and ipa model physician groups and ancillary services behavioral health and substance abuse dental vision transplant management in the united kingdom edit the company did at one time provide primary care services in england but after losing money in 11 consecutive years it changed its strategy in 2011 in order to concentrate on commissioning support including contracting budget monitoring and risk management . 30 it had a turnover of 4.3 m in 2012 . it owns scriptswitch limited and occupational health firm ppc . 31 it has been accepted by nhs england onto the framework as a potential provider of back office services to primary care services in england . jamie reed then a labour party spokesperson on health criticised this move saying that ministers need to explain how it can be right that companies that are being pursued for poor care standards abroad could possibly enter the nhs . 32 the company has contracts for referral management systems in brighton hounslow ealing dorset and bedfordshire . 33 it has a contract to provide contract management forecasting and capacity management services for 18 clinical commissioning groups in wessex and the thames valley . 34 it was involved in bidding for a large contract for cancer care for patients in staffordshire in 2015 but withdrew because it said the price would not permit the provision of good quality healthcare . 35 the first tender for commissioning support issued by south lincolnshire and south west lincolnshire clinical commissioning groups for work formerly done by commissioning support units was won by the company in september 2015 with a value of 3 million a year for 3 years . 36 health and government edit in 2010 unitedhealth group spent more than 1.8 million on lobbying activities to work to achieve favorable legislation and hired seven different lobbying firms to work on its behalf . 37 in addition its corporate political action committee or pac called united for health 38 spent an additional 1 million on lobbying activities in 2010 . 39 qssi a subsidiary of unitedhealth group is one of the 55 contractors hired by united states department of health and human services to work on the healthcare.gov web site 40 health care reform edit through 2010 and into 2011 unitedhealth senior executives have been meeting monthly with executives of leading health insurers to limit the effect of the health care reform law . 41 in april 2016 unitedhealth announced it was pulling out of all but a handful of state healthcare exchanges provided under aca and will continue to sell only in three states in 2017 . 42 43 legal issues edit in 2006 the securities and exchange commission sec began investigating the conduct of unitedhealth group s management and directors for backdating of