Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton has opened an investigation into allegations that UnitedHealth Group engaged in deceptive, unlawful practices that resulted in the denial of medically necessary healthcare.
The attorney general’s office cited reports that UnitedHealth Group bribed nursing homes to delay hospitalizing patients who needed medical care in an Oct. 5 statement.
The company allegedly sent a letter approving prior authorization of a medical procedure at RedBud Surgery Center in Austin to a Texas patient but rescinded the decision after the surgery, leaving the patient with a large medical bill, according to the statement.
Such coverage decisions may amount to the “corporate practice of medicine—overriding physicians’ medical judgment and directing patient care,” the statement added….