Latest news with #UHG
Irish Times
14 hours ago
- Health
- Irish Times
Hospital apologises after misdiagnosis of seven-year-old's appendicitis
A hospital has apologised to a girl whose appendicitis was misdiagnosed at its emergency department in July, 2022, before her appendix later ruptured. A letter of apology from University Hospital Galway (UHG) was read in the High Court as Ariana Mocanu settled a legal action against the Health Service Executive (HSE) for €64,000. Jeremy Maher SC, instructed by PBN Litigation for Ariana, told the court the girl – who was seven years old at the time – had been incorrectly diagnosed with a urinary tract infection and discharged after midnight with antibiotics. Nine hours later, counsel said, she was brought back to the hospital but her acute appendicitis had progressed to a perforated appendix and peritonitis. She required urgent surgery. READ MORE Counsel said the girl's father had, on a number of occasions, raised the possibility of appendicitis with the hospital's treating medic but was told it was a urinary tract infection. Mr Justice Paul Coffey was told that liability and causation in the case are contested. In a letter, UHG said Ariana had been assessed by an emergency medicine doctor who formed the opinion, based on her presenting complaints, that the diagnosis was more likely to be a urinary tract infection than appendicitis. 'On this occasion, the diagnosis turned out to be incorrect. The hospital apologises for this initial misdiagnosis,' the letter from hospital manager Chris Kane said. It added: 'We regret what Ariana and her family went through and we wish Ariana and her family the very best.' Mr Maher told the court that experts on their side would say there was never a case where she should have been sent home. He said the HSE contended surgery would not have been possible at the hospital before morning in any event, which counsel said he found to be bizarre. Ariana had to have open surgery the next day and counsel said she had shown incredible courage. Ariana, from Gorey, Co Wexford, sued the HSE through her father. Outside court, the girl's parents, Diana and Petru Mocanu, through solicitor Piarais Neary, said they had brought the case for Ariana and to highlight to other parents the risk of appendicitis and to know the signs and when to seek urgent medical treatment. They said they welcomed the apology after three years. The young girl was brought to UHG on July 23rd, 2022 complaining of acute central abdominal pain, nausea and vomiting. In the proceedings, it was claimed there was afailure to take any reasonable care for the safety of the girl and an alleged failure to exercise an appropriate level of skill, competence and diligence in or about the diagnosis, assessment, management and treatment of the child when she presented at the hospital. It was claimed she had been discharged with an incorrect diagnosis whereas she should have been admitted. All of the claims were denied. Approving the settlement, Mr Justice Coffey said he was satisfied it was fair and reasonable.
Mint
06-06-2025
- Business
- Mint
Cognizant wins $1 billion deal from US-based healthcare company
Bengaluru: Cognizant Technology Solutions Corp. recently bagged a big-ticket deal from a US-based healthcare company, at a time when clients are renegotiating their engagements with information technology (IT) service providers due to artificial intelligence (AI) tools and macroeconomic uncertainty. In the early hours of Tuesday, Surya Gummadi, Cognizant's president for the Americas region, said the company had won a mega deal worth 'approximately a billion dollars" during a fireside chat with Jason Kupferberg, a senior analyst with Bank of America Merrill Lynch. To be sure, Gummadi did not announce the client's name. Mint has learnt from people with knowledge of the matter, including at least two analysts, that Cognizant might have renewed its partnership with UnitedHealth Group (UHG). 'This (deal) has an element of renewal, an element of expansion and a new (component) as well. It has all three components," said Gummadi, adding that the deal was a transformation deal with an average span of five years. The Cognizant veteran said the deal also has an AI component, where the IT services company is passing productivity gains to the client. Also read | Cognizant eyes a place amongst world's four largest IT services firms Should the client be UnitedHealth, a $1 billion contract translates to roughly $200 million in annual revenue for Cognizant, which counts UnitedHealth amongst its largest clients in the health sciences space. Cognizant has had a two-decade partnership with UnitedHealth. The health sciences vertical made up almost a third of its full-year revenue of $19.74 billion at the end of 2024 and is its biggest vertical. Cognizant, based in Teaneck, New Jersey, is an Indian-heritage IT firm, as more than three-fourths of its employees are based in India. UHG is among the largest healthcare companies in the US, providing healthcare plans to people. The company ended 2024 with $400 billion in revenue, almost 20 times the size of Cognizant. Close ties Notably, one of UnitedHealth's subsidiaries was hit by a ransomware attack last year that impacted more than 100,000 people. The company had to pay out $22 million to hackers to protect valuable patient data, said chief executive officer (CEO) Andrew Witty. Incidentally, Cognizant CEO S. Ravi Kumar and UnitedHealth chief digital and technology officer Sandeep Dadlani were former colleagues at Infosys Ltd. Kumar took over as Cognizant CEO in January 2023, whereas Dadlani joined as UnitedHealth's chief digital and technology officer in September 2022. Both worked together at Infosys between 2002 and 2017. Kumar and Dadlani both served as the Bengaluru-based company's presidents. At least one analyst said the win was a step in the right direction. 'It's a sign of strong forward momentum for the firm," said Phil Fersht, CEO of HFS Research. Also read | Captive concerns: Why Cognizant has called out the risk from GCCs This renewal deal comes as a shot in the arm for Cognizant, which has struggled to grow, discounting its recent acquisitions of Belcan and Thirdera, in the last two years. Acquisitions made up almost half of its full-year revenue growth of 8.2% in constant currency terms. For Cognizant, this is the second mega deal that the company signed in the last two months. Gummadi, in his chat with Bank of America, said the company had announced another deal fetching upwards of $500 million two weeks back. This is an unnamed client in the company's communication, media and telecommunications division, which makes up about 16.6% of the company's revenue. Gummadi said Cognizant is saving money for clients by using AI tools, and this is being shared with those clients, who are in turn putting these savings and some of their own investments into new IT-related work, which is helping create more volume of business for Cognizant. Cognizant declined to comment while an email sent to UHG went unanswered. Scarce deals 'And by the way, both the mega deals that I spoke about, they were originated by us. They did not come from an RFP (request for proposal). They (the mega deals) originated from a solution with this construct," he said. Cognizant's recent deal win comes amid a drought for the country's largest IT outsourcers, which have struggled to bag such large deals. Coforge Ltd was the only listed Indian IT outsourcer to win a deal greater than $1 billion in total contract value over the last year. Also read | Cognizant fared better than peers, but concerns linger In March, the country's seventh-largest IT services company signed a 13-year deal worth $1.56 billion with Sabre Corp., a Southlake, Texas-based travel technology company. As part of the deal, Coforge will handle Sabre's software product delivery and execute artificial intelligence-led tasks for it. Mumbai-based Tata Consultancy Services Ltd was the last of the country's top five software service providers to land a mega deal. Last year, it signed a 15-year deal worth $2.5 billion with Aviva, a British insurance company.
Yahoo
30-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
UnitedHealth Group has an unusual new CEO pay package
In today's CEO Daily: Geoff Colvin on UnitedHealth Group's controversial CEO pay package. The big story: U.S.-China trade talks stall. The markets: Mixed in the face of tariff uncertainty. Analyst notes from UBS, Deutsche Bank, and Macquarie. Plus: All the news and watercooler chat from Fortune. Good morning. Geoff Colvin writing today. It has been quite a year for UnitedHealth Group (UHG)—and now in addition to myriad other troubles, UHG is adding a controversial CEO pay package to its plate. The giant healthcare concern has seen an unprecedented loss of value recently. UHG is America's largest healthcare company, No. 3 on the Fortune 500, but in April it reported a surprisingly terrible first-quarter performance. The stock price plunged, then kept plunging for weeks. CEO Andrew Witty resigned abruptly for unspecified personal reasons, and the board chairman, Stephen Hemsley, took over as CEO. Hemsley, who turns 73 in June, will be trying to rescue the colossus he helped build as CEO from 2006 to 2017. While investors might have expected he would hold the job only until a new CEO is found, Hemsley and the board have other ideas. The highly unusual pay package they created for him shows how. He will get a base salary of $1 million a year—big money but actually below the usual salary for CEOs of such large companies. More importantly, he would get a one-time $60 million grant of stock options, with a twist: He would get the payoff only if he remains CEO for three years. He would get no other stock-based awards in that period. Shareholders will get to vote on that unconventional pay plan at UHG's June 2 annual meeting. Institutional Shareholder Services (ISS), the largest firm that advises major shareholders on how to vote, advises they vote No. They cite a lack of performance criteria and the fact that the stock is so beaten down he might get a windfall for a mere share price rebound. UHG struck back, sending shareholders an explanation of what ISS allegedly missed and why they should vote for Hemsley's pay package. Bottom line, Hemsley and UHG will probably get the pay package they negotiated. ISS's recommendations are taken seriously, but shareholders usually vote in favor of management. Even if UHG loses the vote, which companies must hold by law, the result is non-binding and advisory only; the board of directors could simply ignore the shareholders' wishes. In addition, UHG notes that ISS's main competitor, Glass Lewis, is recommending shareholders vote in favor of Hemsley's pay package. Regardless of the outcome, the contested vote will be significant. It will raise the already high stakes for UHG, its directors, and for Hemsley. More news CEO Daily via Diane Brady at This story was originally featured on Error in retrieving data Sign in to access your portfolio Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data
Yahoo
30-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
At troubled UnitedHealth Group, a highly unusual pay package—potentially worth $60 million to its boomerang CEO—heads to a June vote
Will UnitedHealth Group's new CEO get the hefty pay package the board wants to give him? That eight-figure question rises amid UHG's unprecedented loss of value in the past several weeks. UHG is America's largest health care company, No. 3 on the Fortune 500, but in April it reported surprisingly terrible first-quarter performance. The stock price plunged, then kept plunging for weeks. CEO Andrew Witty resigned abruptly for unspecified personal reasons, and the board chairman, Stephen Hemsley, took over as CEO. Hemsley, who turns 73 in June, will be trying to rescue the colossus he helped build as CEO from 2006 to 2017. While investors might have expected he would hold the job only until the board of directors finds a new CEO, Hemsley and the board have other ideas. The highly unusual pay package they created for Hemsley shows how. He will get a base salary of $1 million a year—big money but actually below the usual salary for CEOs of such large companies. More important, he would get a one-time $60 million grant of stock options, with a twist: He would get the payoff only if he remains CEO for three years. He would get no other stock-based awards in that period. Shareholders will get to vote on that unconventional pay plan at UHG's June 2 annual meeting. Institutional Shareholder Services, the largest firm that advises major shareholders on how to vote, advises they vote no. ISS sees multiple problems with Hemsley's pay package. Such big, front-loaded, multiyear awards 'limit the board's ability to meaningfully adjust future pay opportunities,' ISS says. In addition, Hemsley didn't need to meet any performance criteria to earn the mammoth stock option award; he got the whole thing on day one. Hemsley also got the award just as bad news was pounding the share price down to its lowest in nearly five years, meaning he might get 'a windfall' for a mere 'rebound in the share price.' Combine those factors, says ISS, and a no vote 'is now warranted.' UHG struck back, sending shareholders an explanation of what ISS allegedly missed and why they should vote for Hemsley's pay package. The company's central point: 'The award only has value if and to the extent shareholder value is created.' As for ISS's 'windfall' argument, UHG stated that 'in reality all [underlined and bold in the UHG document] shareholders would gain from increases in the company's stock price relative to current levels.' Who's likely to win this vote? Bottom line, Hemsley and UHG will probably get the pay package they negotiated. ISS's recommendations are taken seriously, but shareholders usually vote in favor of management. Even if UHG loses the shareholder vote on pay, which companies must hold by law, the result is nonbinding and advisory only; the board of directors could simply ignore the shareholders' wishes. In addition, UHG notes that ISS's main competitor, Glass Lewis, is recommending shareholders vote in favor of Hemsley's pay package. 'Upon a cursory glance,' it tells its clients, '[Hemsley's] annualized compensation is not excessive.' Regardless of the outcome, the contested vote will be significant. It will raise the already high stakes for UHG, its directors, and Hemsley. Three years from now, success in the face of opposition would look all the more heroic—and failure would be all the more bitter. This story was originally featured on Error while retrieving data Sign in to access your portfolio Error while retrieving data Error while retrieving data Error while retrieving data Error while retrieving data
Yahoo
28-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
UnitedHealth Group faces lawsuit claiming it used ex-employees' 401(k) funds to defray its own costs
improperly uses workers' funds to reduce its own 401(k) contributions, according to a lawsuit against the nation's largest health insurer that is seeking class-action status. The company denies the claims. It's just one in a string of lawsuits facing the beleaguered company. Add two more lawsuits to the pile facing UnitedHealth Group. America's largest insurer is facing two purported class-action suits from former employees alleging the company misused their 401(k) contributions. The latest suit, filed Wednesday in federal court in Minnesota, claims that UnitedHealth Group held on to employees' money after they left and used it to improperly lower its own costs, the plaintiffs argue. The move is a breach of UHG's duty to act in the best interests of its retirement plan participants—ie, the current and former workers invested in its 401(k) plan. As the suit describes it, UHG, which took in $400 billion in revenue last year, has a fairly standard corporate 401(k) plan, matching up to 6% of employees' pay under certain conditions. However, employees forfeit the money UHG contributed to their plan if they leave before completing two years with the company. Between 2019 and 2023, UHG used $19 million in forfeited funds to reduce its own matching contributions, instead of using it to reduce administrative fees for the 401(k) accounts. That was a breach of UHG's fiduciary duty to plan participants, the plaintiff argues. A 'prudent fiduciary in like circumstances would have defrayed expenses to the Plan's participants rather than defray costs to the employer,' says the lawsuit, claiming UHG caused 'participants to incur millions in expenses that could otherwise have been covered in whole or in part by forfeited funds.' In not acting in pan participants' best interests, UHG violated the Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA), the suit claims. It is seeking class-action status. UHG's 401(k) plan has $22 billion in assets and counts 267,000 participants, according to Department of Labor documents. 'Our 401(k) plan fiduciaries have always acted in accordance with ERISA and in the best interests of plan participants, and we strongly deny any allegations to the contrary,' a company spokesperson said in a statement. 'We will move to dismiss at the earliest opportunity.' Last year, UHG paid $69 million to settle claims that fund selections in its 401(k) plan underperformed the market. It's also facing a number of lawsuits relating to its provision of health care. CalPERS, the California state retirement system, has sued UHG claiming the insurer illegally 'upcodes' Medicare Advantage treatments, making patients seem sicker than they are, an allegation of massive fraud that is also subject to a federal Department of Justice investigation. Families of patients who died are suing UHG, alleging the company relied on an AI algorithm to deny care, and shareholders have sued in connection with UHG's reaction after the killing of CEO Brian Thompson. This story was originally featured on Error in retrieving data Sign in to access your portfolio Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data
