New York, January 8, 2026, 13:30 (ET) — Regular session
UnitedHealth Group Incorporated shares rose on Thursday after U.S. House lawmakers invited the CEOs of major health insurers to testify on January 22 about coverage affordability, as Republicans debate whether to extend Affordable Care Act subsidies and President Donald Trump has said he plans to meet insurers. The stock was up 1.3% at $346.11 by early afternoon, after trading between $339.99 and $347.79. CVS Health, Cigna and Elevance Health, also named for the hearing, were higher. 1
The invitation puts Washington back in the middle of the managed-care trade. Hearings can turn into policy proposals fast, and even a small shift in subsidies or oversight can change how insurers price plans and talk about the year ahead.
Investors are also trying to map the next few weeks, not the next few quarters. UnitedHealth has a guidance update coming, and the stock has been trading like a name that gets re-rated on headlines as much as on fundamentals.
Separately, The Guardian reported that Senators Ron Wyden and Elizabeth Warren accused UnitedHealth of withholding internal documents in a Senate Finance Committee probe into bonuses paid to nursing homes to cut hospital transfers. The senators wrote they were “renewing our inquiry with heightened alarm,” the newspaper reported, and set a January 28 deadline; UnitedHealth said it would “continue to engage” and that its nursing-home program improves outcomes. 2
A separate thread is playing out across the Atlantic. TPG is close to buying UnitedHealth’s Optum UK business in a deal valued at 1.2 billion to 1.4 billion pounds, Sky News reported, though the talks are not final and could still fall apart. Optum UK supplies electronic patient record systems to most British general practitioners and traces back to Optum’s 1.24 billion-pound purchase of EMIS, which UK regulators cleared in 2023; UnitedHealth, Optum and TPG did not immediately comment. 3
Analysts have leaned back into the stock in recent days. Bernstein SocGen analyst Lance Wilkes lifted his price target to $444 and kept an “Outperform” rating — a buy call — calling UnitedHealth his firm’s “top pick for 2026” and expecting a “solid recovery in early 2026.” Evercore ISI’s Elizabeth Anderson also started coverage at Outperform with a $400 target and wrote that 2026 would be a “transition year,” with improvement more visible in 2027 and 2028. 4
UnitedHealth will release full-year 2025 results and 2026 guidance on January 27, before the market opens, and will hold an 8 a.m. ET call with analysts. The guidance update is likely to set the tone on Medicare Advantage — privately run Medicare plans — and on how quickly Optum can steady growth. 5
But the list of unknowns is long. A sharper policy push on premiums or subsidies could squeeze insurers’ pricing room, and any stumble in UnitedHealth’s 2026 outlook would test the rebound case again.
For now, traders are juggling two dates: the January 22 hearing and UnitedHealth’s January 27 results and 2026 guidance. Those events, not today’s tape, are the next real catalyst for UNH.
