AHA Blog: UnitedHealth Group using researchers to advance self-serving agenda

Last week, a series of emails that became public revealed communication between executives at UnitedHealth Group and researchers studying the frequency of surprise medical billing. The emails demonstrate the two entities coordinated extensively on research analysis and narrative while also hiding the insurer’s role. 

While reliable research and analysis is an essential part of the policymaking process, “these emails are a reminder that United has the ability to stack the deck to benefit themselves at the expense of their customers, providers and policymakers and have the means to do so because they control so much data,” according to an AHA Stat blog published today. “Certainly, United deserves more scrutiny for this behavior – not the least of which should be pervasive skepticism of the research they tout to achieve their policy objectives and criticize the objectives of others.”

Read the full AHA blog here.