UnitedHealth Group (UNH) Risk Factor Changes

Internationally, many of the jurisdictions in which we operate have established their own data security and privacy legal framework with which we or our customers must comply.

Further, various governmental agencies have conducted and continue to conduct investigations and studies into certain PBM practices, which have resulted and in future periods may result in PBMs agreeing to civil penal…

CMS uses various payment mechanisms to allocate funding and adjust monthly capitation payments for Medicare programs.

The government health care programs in which we participate are generally subject to frequent changes, including changes which may reduce the number of persons enrolled or eligible for coverage (such as Medicaid eligi…

The laws and regulations governing our businesses and interpretations of those laws and regulations are subject to frequent and often unpredictable change.

We are regulated by federal, state and local governments in the United States and other countries where we do business.

Claims paying ability, financial strength and debt ratings by nationally recognized statistical rating organizations are important factors in establishing the competitive position of insurance companies.

As of December 31, 2025, our goodwill and other intangible assets had a carrying value of $131 billion, representing 42% of our total consolidated assets.

Market fluctuations could impair the value of our investment and loan portfolio and our profitability.

Our investment and loan portfolio may sustain losses which could adversely affect our profitability.

We depend on our ability to attract, develop and retain qualified employees and executives, including those with diverse talents, backgrounds, experiences and perspectives, to operate and expand our business.

Our products and services are sold in part through nonexclusive producers and consultants for whose services and allegiance we must compete.

We increasingly rely on technologies powered by or incorporating AI in our internal operations and in the delivery of products and services.

Legal actions to which we are a party have included and in the future could include matters related to health care benefits coverage and payment of claims (including disputes with enrollees, customers and contracted a…

innovate and provide products and services which are useful and relevant to health care payers, consumers and our customers, we may not remain competitive and risk losing market share to existing competitors and disru…

We depend substantially on our continued ability to contract with health care payers (as a service provider to those payers), as well as physicians, hospitals, pharmaceutical benefit service providers, pharmaceutical…

While we have programs in place to detect, contain and respond to data security incidents and provide employees with awareness training regarding phishing, malware and other cyber threats as a protection against cyber…

We may not successfully implement our initiatives to consolidate the number of information systems we operate, upgrade and expand our systems’ capabilities, integrate and enhance our systems and develop new systems to…

The following discussion contains cautionary statements regarding our business, which investors and others should consider.

Some of our businesses are also subject to the Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard, which is a multifaceted security standard designed to protect payment card account data.

purposes of determining the amount of certain payments to us.

insurance entities and other insurers to the risk they would be required to pay a portion of an impaired or insolvent insurance company’s claims through state guaranty associations.

Legal actions to which we are a party have included and in the future could include matters related to health care benefits coverage and payment of claims (including disputes with enrollees, customers and contracted a…

While we have programs in place to detect, contain and respond to data security incidents and provide employee awareness training regarding phishing, malware and other cyber threats to protect against cybersecurity ri…

We increasingly rely on new and evolving technologies, including those powered by or incorporating AI, as part of our internal operations and in the delivery of our products and services.

regulations regarding the receipt or disclosure of rebates and other fees from pharmaceutical companies, the development and use of formularies and other utilization management tools, the use of average wholesale pric…

We provide pharmacy care services through our Optum Rx and UnitedHealthcare businesses.

operating cost management in response to the benchmark reductions and other funding pressures, these or other strategies may not fully address the funding pressures in the Medicare Advantage program.

impairment and disposition charges, including those related to goodwill and other intangible assets.

with producers could be impaired by changes in our business practices and the terms of our relationships, including commission levels.

Our increasing use of AI presents legal, regulatory and business risks to our operations, reputation and financial results.

In addition, our success in the health care marketplace and future growth depends on our ability to develop and deliver innovative and potentially disruptive products and services to satisfy evolving market demands.

financial position and cash flows.

regulations and changes in information processing technology.

The risks and uncertainties discussed below are not the only risks we may face.

Any or all forward-looking statements in this Annual Report on Form 10-K and in any other SEC filings or public statements we make may turn out to be wrong.