UnitedHealth faces federal scrutiny into whistleblower claims

Attention comes in wake of ex-employees' allegations that insurer paid nursing homes to reduce hospital transfers and used improper tactics to gain Medicare Advantage enrollees

US lawmakers on both sides of the aisle are raising concerns and seeking investigations in the wake of Guardian reporting on whistleblower claims about practices within UnitedHealth Group's nursing home partnership programs.

One US senator has announced he is launching an investigation and two US representatives are now calling on the US Department of Justice to expand its reported investigations of the nation's largest healthcare conglomerate. Others said they are troubled by whistleblower allegations reported by the Guardian - including claims that UnitedHealth paid bonuses to nursing homes to help reduce residents' hospital transfers and used improper sales tactics to get nursing home residents to sign up for the company's Medicare Advantage plans.