NEW YORK, December 29, 2025, 10:11 ET — Regular session
- UnitedHealth shares down about 0.2% in morning trade as the broader market slips
- Wall Street Journal report spotlights insurer-owned mail-order pharmacies’ early refills for Medicare patients
- Investors look ahead to UnitedHealth’s Jan. 27 results and 2026 guidance
UnitedHealth Group Incorporated shares edged lower on Monday after a Wall Street Journal investigation said mail-order pharmacies owned by major insurers, including UnitedHealth, dispensed billions of dollars of excess prescription drugs to Medicare patients.
The report matters because it keeps a spotlight on Optum, UnitedHealth’s services arm, at a time when investors are focused on regulatory risk around Medicare and pharmacy practices and are looking for a clearer 2026 outlook from the company.
It also lands as UnitedHealth tries to reassure shareholders that internal controls and oversight are tightening across risk assessment, care management and pharmacy operations — areas that can affect what the government pays insurers and what clients pay for drug benefits.
UnitedHealth shares were down about 0.2% at $331.19 in morning trading in New York. The SPDR S&P 500 ETF was down about 0.4%.
Health-care stocks were steadier, with the Health Care Select Sector SPDR ETF little changed. Humana was flat, while CVS Health rose and Elevance Health fell.
The Journal said its analysis of Medicare prescription data from 2021 to 2023 found that too-frequent refills by U.S. pharmacies cost Medicare and patients about $3 billion, and that insurer-owned mail-order pharmacies were a disproportionate contributor to the excess.
Mail-order pharmacies represent about 9% of Medicare prescriptions but accounted for 37% of the excess drugs, the paper reported, pointing to automatic 90-day refills and early shipments as key drivers.
“It’s awful how much waste that is,” Pamela Schweitzer, a pharmacist and former assistant U.S. surgeon general, told the Journal. Wall Street Journal
The report also said some former UnitedHealth executives and insurance-industry actuaries argued early refills can bolster medication-adherence measures used in quality ratings, while UnitedHealth said adherence matters but its priority is members’ health.
Separately, UnitedHealth has been rolling out an independent review program covering risk assessment in Medicare Advantage — the privately run version of the U.S. government’s Medicare program — as well as care services management and drug-manufacturer discount processes at Optum Rx, its pharmacy benefit manager.
UnitedHealth said it plans to share, in the first quarter of 2026, results of a review of medical records tied to diagnosis codes identified during its in-home HouseCalls visits, which are used in part for Medicare “risk adjustment,” the system that pays insurers more for sicker members. UnitedHealth Group
On Dec. 19, the company said it would implement operational changes following external audits of its health services and pharmacy benefit units, and that it was cooperating with Justice Department investigations into its billing practices.
Investors’ next major checkpoint is Jan. 27, when UnitedHealth said it will report full-year 2025 results and provide 2026 financial guidance before the market opens, followed by an 8 a.m. ET conference call.
Traders were also watching whether the stock holds above the $330 area after Monday’s low of $330.03, with the day’s range topping out near $334.25.
