UnitedHealth CEO Andrew Witty steps down

UnitedHealth Group announced today that CEO Andrew Witty has stepped down due to personal reasons, just as the company suspends the 2025 outlook over higher-than-expected medical costs.

Stephen J. Hemsley has immediately replaced Witty as CEO. Hemsley previously served as UnitedHealth CEO from 2006-2017. He was also the chief operating officer in 1997 and president in 1999. He became chairman of the company’s Board of Directors in 2017 and will remain the board's chair during this transition

UnitedHealth also said Witty will serve as senior advisor to the new CEO.

Additionally, UnitedHealth said it has suspended its 2025 outlook as the company's medical expenditures exceed what it anticipated. The company said care activity has accelerated while benefit offerings broadened in the first quarter of this year.

The medical costs for new beneficiaries in UnitedHealth's Medicare Advantage offerings also remained higher than expected, according to the announcement.

UnitedHealth has faced a challenging year. The company made global headlines in December 2024 when the CEO of its insurance arm, UnitedHealthcare, was fatally shot in New York City. Brian Thompson was shot before the start of the company's annual investment conference in a seemingly targeted attack.

Earlier this year, the Department of Justice also launched an investigation into UnitedHealth's billing practices. The probe, first reported by The Wall Street Journal, will look into coding practices that may lead to higher payments for Medicare Advantage plans.

In response, UnitedHealth said The Wall Street Journal "continues to report misinformation on the Medicare Advantage (MA) program."

"We are not aware of the 'launch' of any 'new' activity as reported by the Journal," UnitedHealth said in a February 2025 statement. "We are aware, however, that the Journal has engaged in a year-long campaign to defend a legacy system that rewards volume over keeping patients healthy and addressing their underlying conditions. Any suggestion that our practices are fraudulent is outrageous and false."

The company's subsidiary, Change Healthcare, also suffered a massive cyberattack in February 2024, exposing the data of 190 million people. It is the largest healthcare data breach in U.S. history, so far. The company continues to grapple with the consequences of the data breach.

Still, UnitedHealth Group said today that it expects the company to grow in 2026.

Jacqueline LaPointe is a graduate of Brandeis University and King's College London. She has been writing about healthcare finance and revenue cycle management since 2016.