UnitedHealth’s Medicare Strategy Scares Some Analysts

UnitedHealth Group Inc., a managed care company with 3,900 workers in Orange County, saw its stock slide earlier this month over concerns that its bid to win Medicare contracts would ding profits.

UnitedHealth’s shares fell nearly 7% on June 11, after some analysts said the Minnesota-based company’s profits would be reduced in 2010 based on bids for government contracts.

UnitedHealth officials gave Wall Street a peek at what it expected in 2010, including bid details. The company said it expects thinner profits next year based on its Medicare HMO bids.

Afterward, analyst Carl McDonald of Oppenheimer