Health insurers turns red on report UnitedHealth faces Medicare fraud probe

Shares of some health insurers fall after the Wall Street Journal reported, late on Wednesday, that the U.S. Department of Justice was investigating UnitedHealth Group UNH.N for potential Medicare fraud

UNH said it had not been notified by the DOJ about the "supposed criminal investigation reported," and the co stood by "the integrity of our Medicare Advantage program"

Shares of Medicare-focused insurer UnitedHealth Group UNH.N plunge 16.3%, Humana HUM.N slip 5.7% and CVS Health CVS.N down 2.2%

Shares of Elevance Health ELV.N down 3.8%, Molina Healthcare MOH.N fall 3.5%, Centene CNC.N drop 3.7% and Cigna CI.N down 1%

The US government's investigation into the alleged kickback scheme is part of a wider crackdown on the Medicare Advantage program, which has already led to lawsuits against other major health insurers earlier this month

Including session moves, UNH down 48.6%, HUM down 14.3%, CVS up 30.7%, ELV down 2.3%, MOH up 2.8%, CNC down 5.5%, CI up 8.9% YTD