Unitedhealth Group Inc (UNH) SEC Annual Report (10-K) for 2011

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Commission file number: 1-10864

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(Exact name of registrant as specified in its charter)

(952) 936-1300

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Securities registered pursuant to Section 12(b) of the Act:

Securities registered pursuant to Section 12(g) of the Act: NONE

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Indicate by check mark if the registrant is a well-known seasoned issuer, as defined in Rule 405 of the Securities Act.   Yes x No o

Indicate by check mark if the registrant is not required to file reports pursuant to Section 13 or Section 15(d) of the Act.     Yes o No x

Indicate by check mark whether the registrant (1) has filed all reports required to be filed by Section 13 or 15(d) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 during the preceding 12 months (or for such shorter period that the registrant was required to file such reports), and (2) has been subject to such filing requirements for the past 90 days. Yes x No o

Indicate by check mark whether the registrant has submitted electronically and posted on its corporate Web site, if any, every Interactive Data File required to be submitted and posted pursuant to Rule 405 of Regulation S-T (§232.405 of this chapter) during the preceding 12 months (or for such shorter period that the registrant was required to submit and post such files).    Yes  x No o

Indicate by check mark if disclosure of delinquent filers pursuant to Item 405 of Regulation S-K (§229.405 of this chapter) is not contained herein, and will not be contained, to the best of registrant's knowledge, in definitive proxy or information statements incorporated by reference in Part III of this Form 10-K or any amendment to this Form 10-K.    o

Indicate by check mark whether the registrant is a shell company (as defined in Rule 12b-2 of the Exchange Act).    Yes  o No  x

The aggregate market value of voting stock held by non-affiliates of the registrant as of June 30, 2011 was $ 54,799,296,021 (based on the last reported sale price of $51.58 per share on June 30, 2011, on the New York Stock Exchange).*

As of January 31, 2012, there were 1,044,964,149 shares of the registrant's Common Stock, $.01 par value per share, issued and outstanding.

Note that in Part III of this report on Form 10-K, we incorporate by reference certain information from our Definitive Proxy Statement for the 2012 Annual Meeting of Shareholders. This document will be filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) within the time period permitted by the SEC. The SEC allows us to disclose important information by referring to it in that manner. Please refer to such information.

UNITEDHEALTH GROUP

Table of Contents

PART I

INTRODUCTION

Overview

UnitedHealth Group is a diversified health and well-being company whose mission is to help people live healthier lives and help make health care work better (the terms "we," "our," "us," "UnitedHealth Group," or the "Company" used in this report refer to UnitedHealth Group Incorporated and our subsidiaries). Our business model has evolved and is informed by over three decades of serving the needs of the markets, and people, of health care.

Today, we are helping individuals access quality care at an affordable cost; simplifying health care administration and delivery; strengthening the physician/patient relationship; promoting evidence-based care; and empowering physicians, health care professionals, consumers, employers and other participants in the health system with actionable data to make better, more informed decisions.

Through our diversified family of businesses, we leverage core competencies in advanced, enabling technology; health care data, information and intelligence; and care management and coordination to help meet the demands of the health system. These core competencies are deployed within our two distinct, but strategically aligned, business platforms: health benefits operating under UnitedHealthcare and health services operating under Optum.

UnitedHealthcare serves the health benefits needs of individuals across life's stages through three businesses. UnitedHealthcare Employer & Individual serves individual consumers and employers. The unique health needs of seniors are served by UnitedHealthcare Medicare & Retirement. UnitedHealthcare Community & State serves the public health marketplace, offering states innovative Medicaid solutions.

Optum serves health system participants including consumers, physicians, hospitals, governments, insurers, distributors and pharmaceutical companies, through its OptumHealth, OptumInsight and OptumRx businesses. These businesses have dedicated units that drive improved access, affordability, quality and simplicity across eight markets: integrated care delivery, care management, consumer engagement and support, distribution of benefits and services, health financial services, operational services and support, health care information technology and pharmacy.

Through UnitedHealthcare and Optum, in 2011, we managed approximately $135 billion in aggregate health care spending on behalf of the constituents and consumers we served. Our revenues are derived from premiums on risk-based products; fees from management, administrative, technology and consulting services; sales of a wide variety of products and services related to the broad health and well-being industry; and investment and other income. Our two business platforms have four reportable segments:

For our financial results and the presentation of certain other financial information by segment, see Note 13 of Notes to the Consolidated Financial Statements.

UnitedHealthcare

UnitedHealthcare is advancing strategies to improve the way health care is delivered and financed, offering consumers a simpler, more affordable health care experience. Our market position is built on:

The financial results of UnitedHealthcare Employer & Individual, UnitedHealthcare Medicare & Retirement, and UnitedHealthcare Community & State have been aggregated in the UnitedHealthcare reportable segment due to their similar economic characteristics, products and services, customers, distribution methods, operational processes and regulatory environment. These businesses also share significant common assets, including our contracted networks of physicians, health care professionals, hospitals and other facilities, information technology infrastructure and other resources. UnitedHealthcare utilizes the expertise of UnitedHealth Group affiliates for capabilities in specialized areas, such as OptumRx prescription drug services, OptumHealth care solutions and behavioral health services and OptumInsight fraud and abuse prevention and detection. UnitedHealthcare arranges for discounted access to care through networks that include a total of nearly 754,000 physicians and other health care professionals and nearly 5,400 hospitals across the United States (UnitedHealthcare Network).

UnitedHealthcare Employer & Individual

UnitedHealthcare Employer & Individual works closely with employers and individuals to provide health benefit plans that provide personalized solutions to help members live healthier lives and achieve meaningful cost savings. UnitedHealthcare Employer & Individual offers a comprehensive array of consumer-oriented plans and services for large national employers, public sector employers, mid-sized employers, small businesses and individuals nationwide, providing nearly 26 million Americans access to health care as of December 31, 2011.

Through its risk-based product offerings, UnitedHealthcare Employer & Individual assumes the risk of both medical and administrative costs for its customers in return for a monthly premium, which is typically at a fixed rate per individual served for a one-year period. When providing administrative and other management services to customers that elect to self-fund the health care costs of their employees and employees' dependants, UnitedHealthcare Employer & Individual receives a fixed service fee per individual served. These customers retain the risk of financing medical benefits for their employees and employees' dependants, while UnitedHealthcare Employer & Individual provides customized services such as coordination and facilitation of medical services and related services to customers, consumers and health care professionals, transaction processing and access to a contracted network of physicians, hospitals and other health care professionals, including dental and vision. Large employer groups, such as those serviced by UnitedHealthcare Employer & Individual National Accounts, typically use self-funded arrangements. As of December 31, 2011, UnitedHealthcare Employer & Individual National Accounts served approximately 400 large employer groups under these arrangements, including 147 of the Fortune 500 companies. Smaller employer groups are more likely to purchase risk-based products because they are less willing or able to bear a greater potential liability for health care expenditures. UnitedHealthcare Employer & Individual also offers a variety of non-employer based insurance options for purchase by individuals, including students, which are designed to meet the health coverage needs of these consumers and their families.

As the commercial market becomes more consumer-oriented, individuals are assuming more personal and financial responsibility for their care, and they are demanding more affordable products, greater transparency and choice and personalized help navigating the complex system. The consolidated purchasing capacity represented by the individuals UnitedHealth Group serves makes it possible for UnitedHealthcare Employer & Individual to contract for cost-effective access to a large number of conveniently located care professionals. Individuals served by UnitedHealthcare Employer & Individual have access to 90% of the physicians and other health care professionals and 97% of the hospitals in the UnitedHealthcare Network; certain care providers are available only to those consumers served through Medicare and/or Medicaid products.

UnitedHealthcare Employer & Individual is engaging physicians and consumers and using information to promote well-informed health decisions, improved medical outcomes and greater efficiency. It offers consumers engaging and informative tools and resources that provide greater transparency around quality and cost, such as our Premium Designation program and Treatment Cost Estimator tool, affording our members more control over their health care.

UnitedHealthcare Employer & Individual's innovative clinical programs, built around an extensive clinical data set and principles of evidence-based medicine, are enabling a more integrated, proactive and personalized health system. The programs promote consumer engagement, health education, admission counseling before hospital stays, care advocacy to help avoid prolonged patients' stays in the hospital, support for individuals at risk of needing intensive treatment and coordination of care for people with chronic conditions. Disease and condition management programs help individuals address significant, complex disease states, including disease-specific benefit offerings such as the Diabetes Health Plan.

UnitedHealthcare Employer & Individual offers high-deductible consumer-driven benefit plans, which include health savings accounts (HSA) and health reimbursement accounts (HRA), enabling consumers to achieve even greater value and choice. During 2011, nearly 36,000 employer-sponsored benefit plans, including approximately 200 employers in the large group self-funded market, purchased one of these consumer-oriented products.

UnitedHealthcare Employer & Individual's comprehensive and integrated pharmaceutical management services promote lower

costs by using formulary programs to drive better unit costs, encouraging consumers to use drugs that offer better value and outcomes, and through physician and consumer programs that support the appropriate use of drugs based on clinical evidence. In addition, UnitedHealthcare Employer & Individual also offers a comprehensive range of dental, vision, life, and disability product offerings delivered through an integrated approach that enhances efficiency and effectiveness and includes a network of nearly 35,000 vision professionals in private and retail settings, and more than 180,000 dental providers.

UnitedHealthcare Employer & Individual's distribution system consists primarily of producers (i.e., brokers and agents) and direct and internet sales in the individual market, producers in the small employer group market, and producers and other consultant-based or direct sales for large employer and public sector groups. UnitedHealthcare Employer & Individual's direct distribution efforts are generally limited to the individual market, portions of the large employer group and public sector markets, and cross-selling of specialty products to existing customers. UnitedHealthcare Employer & Individual offers its products through affiliates that are licensed as insurance companies, health maintenance organizations (HMOs), or third party administrators (TPAs).

UnitedHealthcare Medicare & Retirement

UnitedHealthcare Medicare & Retirement provides health and well-being services to individuals age 50 and older, addressing their unique needs for preventive and acute health care services as well as for services dealing with chronic disease and other specialized issues for older individuals. UnitedHealthcare Medicare & Retirement is fully dedicated to serving this growing senior market segment, providing products and services in all 50 states, the District of Columbia, and most U.S. territories.

UnitedHealthcare Medicare & Retirement offers a wide spectrum of Medicare products, including Medicare Advantage plans, Medicare Part D prescription drug coverage, and Medigap products that supplement traditional fee-for-service coverage, which may be sold to individuals or on a group basis. Premium revenues from the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) represented 28% of our total consolidated revenues for the year ended December 31, 2011, most of which were generated by UnitedHealthcare Medicare & Retirement under a number of contracts.

UnitedHealthcare Medicare & Retirement has extensive distribution capabilities and experience, including direct marketing to consumers on behalf of its key clients: AARP, the nation's largest membership organization dedicated to the needs of people age 50 and over; state and U.S. government agencies; and employer groups. UnitedHealthcare Medicare & Retirement also has distinct pricing, underwriting, clinical program management and marketing capabilities dedicated to risk-based health products and services in the senior and geriatric markets.

Medicare Advantage. UnitedHealthcare Medicare & Retirement provides health care coverage for seniors and other eligible Medicare beneficiaries primarily through the Medicare Advantage program administered by CMS, including Medicare Advantage HMO plans, preferred provider organization (PPO) plans, Special Needs Plans, Point-of-Service (POS) plans and Private-Fee-for-Service plans. Under the Medicare Advantage programs, UnitedHealthcare Medicare & Retirement provides health insurance coverage in exchange for a fixed monthly premium per member from CMS. Premium amounts vary based on the geographic areas in which members reside; demographic factors such as age, gender, and institutionalized status; and the health status of the individual. UnitedHealthcare Medicare & Retirement also provides complete, individualized care planning and care benefits for retirees, aging, disabled and chronically ill individuals, serving individuals enrolled in Medicare Advantage products in 30 states and in the District of Columbia in long-term care settings including nursing homes, community-based settings and private homes. In addition, UnitedHealthcare Medicare & Retirement offers innovative care management and clinical programs, integrating federal, state and personal funding through a continuum of products from Medicare Advantage and Special Needs Plans to hospice care. For high-risk patients in certain care settings and programs, UnitedHealthcare Medicare & Retirement uses proprietary, automated medical record software that enables clinical care teams to capture and track patient data and clinical encounters, creating a comprehensive set of care information that bridges across home, hospital and nursing home care settings. UnitedHealthcare Medicare & Retirement had approximately 2.2 million members enrolled in its Medicare Advantage products as of December 31, 2011. Proprietary predictive modeling tools help identify members at high risk and allow care managers to proactively outreach to members to create individualized care plans and help members obtain the right care, in the right place, at the right time.

Prescription Drug Benefit (Part D). UnitedHealthcare Medicare & Retirement provides the Medicare prescription drug benefit (Part D) to beneficiaries throughout the United States and its territories. UnitedHealthcare Medicare & Retirement provides Part D drug coverage through its Medicare Advantage program and stand-alone Part D plans. As of December 31, 2011, UnitedHealthcare Medicare & Retirement had enrolled 7.1 million members in the Part D program, including 4.9 million members in the stand-alone Part D plans and 2.2 million members in its Medicare Advantage plans incorporating Part D coverage.

Medicare Supplement. In association with AARP, UnitedHealthcare Medicare & Retirement provides a range of Medicare supplement and hospital indemnity insurance offerings through insurance company affiliates to 3.8 million AARP members.

Additional UnitedHealthcare Medicare & Retirement services include a nurse health line service, a lower cost Medicare supplement offering that provides consumers with a national hospital network, 24-hour access to health care information, and

access to discounted health services from a network of physicians.

UnitedHealthcare Community & State

UnitedHealthcare Community & State is dedicated to providing innovative Medicaid managed care solutions to states that care for the economically disadvantaged, the medically underserved and those without the benefit of employer-funded health care coverage in exchange for a monthly premium per member from the applicable state. States using managed care services for Medicaid beneficiaries select health plans using either a formal bid process, or award individual contracts. As of December 31, 2011, UnitedHealthcare Community & State participates in programs in 23 states and the District of Columbia, serving approximately 3.5 million beneficiaries of acute and long-term care Medicaid plans, the Children's Health Insurance Program (CHIP), Special Needs Plans and other federal and state health care programs.

UnitedHealthcare Community & State's health plans and care programs are designed to address the complex needs of the populations they serve, including the chronically ill, those with disabilities and people with higher risk medical, behavioral and social conditions. UnitedHealthcare Community & State leverages the national capabilities of UnitedHealth Group, delivering them at the local market level to support effective care management, strong regulatory partnerships, greater administrative efficiency, improved clinical outcomes and the ability to adapt to a changing market environment. UnitedHealthcare Community & State coordinates resources among family, physicians, other health care providers, and government and community-based agencies and organizations to facilitate continuous and effective care. For example, the Personal Care Model establishes an ongoing relationship between health care professionals and individuals who have serious and chronic health conditions to help them maintain the best possible health and functional status, whether care is delivered in an acute care setting, long-term care facility or at home. Programs for families and children focus on high-prevalence and debilitating chronic illnesses such as hypertension and cardiovascular disease, asthma, sickle cell disease, diabetes, HIV/AIDS and high-risk pregnancies. Programs for the long-term care population focus on dementia, depression, coronary disease and functional-use deficiencies that impede daily living.

Optum

Optum is a technology-enabled health services business serving the broad health care marketplace, including payers, care providers, employers, government, life sciences companies and consumers. By helping connect and align health system participants and providing them actionable information at the points of decision-making, Optum helps improve overall health system performance: optimizing care quality, reducing costs and improving the consumer experience and care provider performance. Optum is organized in three segments:

The breadth of this portfolio allows Optum to impact key activities that help enable better integrated, more sustainable health care.

OptumHealth

OptumHealth serves the physical, emotional and financial needs of 60 million unique individuals, enabling consumer health management and collaborative care delivery through programs offered by employers, payers, government entities and, increasingly, directly through the care delivery system. OptumHealth's products and services can be deployed individually or integrated to provide comprehensive solutions, addressing a broad base of needs within the health care system. OptumHealth's solutions reduce costs for customers, improve workforce productivity and consumer satisfaction and optimize the overall health and well-being of populations.

OptumHealth's simple, modular service designs can be easily integrated to meet varying employer, payer, government entity, care provider and consumer needs at a wide range of price points. OptumHealth offers its products, primarily, on an administrative fee basis whereby it manages or administers delivery of the product or services in exchange for a fixed fee per individual served, and on a risk basis, where OptumHealth assumes responsibility for health care costs in exchange for a fixed monthly premium per individual served. For its financial services offerings, OptumHealth charges fees and earns investment income on managed funds.

OptumHealth sells its products primarily through its direct sales force, strategic collaborations and external producers in three markets: employers (which includes the sub-markets of large, mid and small employers), payers (which includes the sub-markets of health plans, TPAs, underwriter/stop-loss carriers and individual market intermediaries) and government entities (which includes States, CMS, Department of Defense, Veterans Administration and other federal procurement). As provider reimbursement models evolve, care providers are emerging as a fourth market segment for our health management, financial services and collaborative care services.

OptumHealth is organized into five major operating groups: Care Solutions, Behavioral Solutions, Financial Services, Collaborative Care, and Logistics Health, Inc.

Care Solutions . Care Solutions serves more than 41 million individuals through personalized health management (e.g., wellness, chronic and complex conditions), decision support (e.g., insurance choices, treatment and health care provider options) and access to networks of care provider specialists linked to medical conditions with high variation of quality and cost (e.g., physical health, cancer and transplants). This comprehensive solution set empowers consumers and enables their collaboration with specialty care providers that is critical to decisions that drive hospitalization and surgery.

Behavioral Solutions. Behavioral Solutions serves more than 52 million individuals through global well-being solutions (e.g., employee assistance programs) and behavioral health management solutions (e.g., mental health, substance abuse) that address the emotional health needs of consumers, spanning the stress and anxiety of daily living, to depression associated with chronic illness, to clinically diagnosed mental illness. Programs combine predictive modeling, evidence-based clinical outcomes management, consumer support and peer support, with access to a leading network of behavioral health care providers. Behavioral Solutions customers have access to a national network of more than 112,000 clinicians and counselors and 3,300 facilities in approximately 6,600 locations nationwide.

Financial Services. Dedicated solely to the health care market, OptumHealth Financial Services helps organizations and individuals optimize their health care finances. As a leading provider of consumer health care accounts (e.g., health savings accounts, flexible spending accounts), OptumHealth Financial Services enables people to use those tax-favored accounts to save money today and build health savings for the future. Organizations rely upon OptumHealth Financial Services to manage and improve their cash flows through turnkey electronic payment solutions (e.g., remittance advices, funds transfers) health care-related lending and credit (e.g., financing of care provider medical equipment) and financial risk protection for third party payers and self-funded employers (e.g., comprehensive stop-loss insurance coverage).

Financial Services is comprised of OptumHealth Bank, which is a member of the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC), a TPA and a transaction processing service for the health care industry. As of December 31, 2011, Financial Services had $1.5 billion in customer assets under management and during 2011 processed $54 billion in medical payments to physicians and other health care providers.

Collaborative Care. Working closely with various health care providers in local markets and communities, Collaborative Care believes that the market is moving to a collaborative network model aligned around total population health management and outcomes-based reimbursement. In close coordination with local integrated care delivery systems, it deploys a core set of technology, risk management, analytical and clinical capabilities and tools to assist physicians in delivering high-quality care across the populations they serve. OptumHealth's coordinated post-acute care services augment primary care physicians to deliver services outside of hospitals to vulnerable, chronically ill populations. In affiliation with a broad variety of payers, Collaborative Care also delivers care to approximately 700,000 people through a spectrum of models ranging from medical clinics to contracts with individual practice association networks.

Logistics Health, Inc. Acquired in 2011, Logistics Health, Inc. (LHI) focuses on mobile care delivery, logistically arranging for convenient access to care at the time and place most needed. LHI designs and implements occupational health, medical and dental readiness services, treatments and immunization programs and disability exams for the U.S. Military, Veterans Administration and Department of Health and Human Services, as well as numerous commercial companies. Services are delivered in provider clinics or through temporary on-site resources.

OptumInsight

OptumInsight is a health information, technology, services and consulting company providing software and information products, advisory consulting services, and business process outsourcing to participants in the health care industry. Hospitals, physicians, commercial health plans, government agencies, life sciences companies and other organizations that comprise the health care system work with OptumInsight to reduce costs, meet compliance mandates, improve clinical performance and adapt to the changing health system landscape. As of December 31, 2011, OptumInsight's customer base included more than 6,000 hospital facilities, nearly 250,000 health care professionals or groups, nearly 300 commercial insurance companies and health plans, approximately 400 global life sciences companies, over 300 federal and state government agencies, including all 50 states, and approximately 150 United Kingdom government payers, as well as other UnitedHealth Group businesses.

OptumInsight's products and services are sold primarily through a direct sales force. OptumInsight's products are also supported and distributed through an array of alliance and business partnerships with other technology vendors, who integrate and interface its products with their applications.

OptumInsight's technology products and services solutions are offered through four integrated market groups. These market groups are Provider (e.g., physician practices and hospitals), Payer, Government and Life Sciences.

Provider. The Provider market group combines a comprehensive range of technology and information products, advisory

consulting, and outsourcing services focused on hospitals, integrated delivery networks, and physician practices. These solutions help providers establish efficient administrative and clinical workflows, improve patient care, and meet compliance mandates and are organized around hospital and physician practice needs for:

Payer.  OptumInsight's Payer business serves clients that offer commercial health insurance or privately administer health insurance programs on behalf of federal or state governments (e.g., Medicare Advantage or Managed Medicaid). The business offers technology, services and consulting capabilities that supplement OptumInsight's clients' existing operations, as well as fully outsourced solutions. The business addresses diverse needs for payer clients, serving four primary areas: 

Government Solutions.  OptumInsight Government Solutions helps state and federal governments improve the efficiency and quality of health and human services programs by offering a broad range of solutions including:

Life Sciences.  The Life Sciences business addresses the changing global economic and regulatory competitive landscape by assisting life sciences clients in identifying, analyzing and measuring the value of their products. The Life Sciences business consults with clients by working across both research and development and brand/marketing so they can improve market access and product positioning. OptumInsight utilizes extensive real world data assets, scientifically-based research design and analytics to support the global life sciences industry and its markets through:

Many of OptumInsight's software and information products, advisory consulting arrangements, and outsourcing contracts are performed over an extended period, often several years. OptumInsight maintains an order backlog to track unearned revenues under these long-term arrangements. The backlog consists of estimated revenue from signed contracts, other legally binding agreements and anticipated contract renewals based on historical experience that either have not started but are anticipated to begin in the near future, or are in process and have not been completed. In 2011, OptumInsight standardized backlog reporting across recent acquisitions and as a result increased the backlog by $0.4 billion. OptumInsight's aggregate backlog at December 31, 2011 was $4.0 billion, of which $2.4 billion is expected to be realized within the next 12 months. This includes $0.9 billion related to intersegment agreements, all of which are included in the current portion of the backlog. OptumInsight cannot provide any assurance that it will be able to realize all of the revenues included in backlog due to uncertainty regarding the timing and scope of services, the potential for cancellation, non-renewal, or early termination of service arrangements.

OptumRx

OptumRx provides a multitude of pharmacy benefit management (PBM) services. It serves more than 14 million people nationwide through its network of approximately 66,000 retail pharmacies and two mail service facilities, processing nearly 370 million adjusted retail, mail and specialty drug prescriptions annually. OptumRx is dedicated to helping its customers achieve optimal health while maximizing cost savings. It does this by working closely with customers to create customized solutions to improve quality and safety, increase compliance and adherence and reduce fraud and waste.

OptumRx provides PBM services and manages specialty pharmacy benefits across nearly all of UnitedHealthcare's businesses, as well as for external employer groups, union trusts, managed care organizations, Medicare-contracted plans, Medicaid plans and TPAs, including for pharmacy benefit services, mail service only, rebate services only and network services. Services include providing prescribed medications, patient support and clinical programs that ensure quality and value for consumers. OptumRx also provides claims processing, retail network contracting, rebate contracting and management and clinical programs, such as step therapy, formulary management and disease/drug therapy management programs to achieve a low-cost, high-quality pharmacy benefit. The mail order and specialty pharmacy fulfillment capabilities of OptumRx are an important strategic component in serving employers, commercial health plans, Medicaid plans and Medicare-contracted businesses, including Part D prescription drug plans. OptumRx's distribution system consists primarily of health insurance brokers and other health care consultants and direct sales.

GOVERNMENT REGULATION

Most of our health and well-being services are regulated by federal and state regulatory agencies that generally have discretion to issue regulations and interpret and enforce laws and rules. These regulations can vary significantly from jurisdiction to jurisdiction, and the interpretation of existing laws and rules also may change periodically. In the first quarter of 2010, the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act and a reconciliation measure, the Health Care and Education Reconciliation Act of 2010, which we refer to together as the Health Reform Legislation, were signed into law. The Health Reform Legislation, portions of which are summarized below, alters the regulatory environment in which we operate, in some cases to a significant degree. Federal and state governments continue to enact and consider various legislative and regulatory proposals that could materially impact certain aspects of the health care system. New laws, regulations and rules, or changes in the interpretation of existing laws, regulations and rules, as well as a result of changes in the political climate, could adversely affect our business.

In the event we fail to comply with, or we fail to respond quickly and appropriately to changes in, applicable laws, regulations and rules, our business, results of operations, financial position and cash flows could be materially and adversely affected. See Item 1A, "Risk Factors" for a discussion of the risks related to compliance with federal and state laws and regulations.

Health Care Reforms

The Health Reform Legislation expands access to coverage and modifies aspects of the commercial insurance market, as well as the Medicaid and Medicare programs, CHIP and other aspects of the health care system. Certain provisions of the Health Reform Legislation have already taken effect, and other provisions become effective at various dates over the next several years. The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) and the U.S. Treasury Department have issued or proposed regulations on a number of aspects of Health Reform Legislation, but final rules and interim guidance on other key aspects of the legislation remain pending.

Certain aspects of the Health Reform Legislation are also being challenged in federal court, with the proponents of such

challenges seeking to limit the scope of or have all or portions of the Health Reform Legislation declared unconstitutional. The United States Supreme Court is scheduled to hear oral arguments on certain aspects of these cases in March 2012, including the constitutionality of the individual mandate. Congress may also withhold the funding necessary to implement the Health Reform Legislation, or may attempt to replace the legislation with amended provisions or repeal it altogether.

The following outlines certain provisions of the Health Reform Legislation that have recently taken effect or are expected to take effect in the coming years, assuming the legislation is implemented in its current form.

Effective 2010 : The Health Reform Legislation mandated: the expansion of dependent coverage to include adult children until age 26; eliminated certain annual and lifetime caps on the dollar value of certain essential health benefits; eliminated pre-existing condition limits for enrollees under age 19; prohibited certain policy rescissions; prohibited plans and issuers from charging higher cost sharing (copayments or coinsurance) for emergency services that are obtained out of a plan's network; and included a requirement to provide coverage for preventive services without cost to members (for non-grandfathered plans).

The Health Reform Legislation also mandated certain changes to coverage determination and appeals processes, including: expanding the definition of "adverse benefit determination" to include rescissions; extending external review rights of adverse benefit determinations to insured and self-funded plans; and improving the clarity of and expanding the types of information in adverse benefit determination notices.

Effective 2011 : Commercial fully insured health plans in the large employer group, small employer group and individual markets with medical loss ratios below certain targets (85% for large employer groups, 80% for small employer groups and 80% for individuals, as calculated under the definitions in the Health Reform Legislation and regulations, subject to state specific exceptions) are required to rebate ratable portions of their premiums to their customers annually. Rebate payments for 2011 will be made in mid 2012. A state can request a waiver of the individual market medical loss ratio for up to three years if the state petitions and provides to HHS certain supporting data, and HHS determines that the requirement is disruptive to the market in that state. By the end of 2011, 17 states petitioned HHS for waivers of the mandated individual market medical loss ratio, of which six were wholly or partially granted. The Health Reform Legislation also mandated consumer discounts of 50% on brand name prescription drugs and 7% on generic prescription drugs for Part D plan participants in the coverage gap. These consumer discounts will gradually increase over the next several years, which will decrease consumer out-of-pocket drug spending within the coverage gap, shifting a portion of these costs to the plan sponsor.

In addition, as required under the Health Reform Legislation, HHS established a federal premium rate review process, which became effective in September 2011 and generally applies to proposed rate increases equal to or exceeding 10% (with state-specific thresholds to be applicable commencing September 2012). The regulations further require commercial health plans to provide to the states and HHS extensive information supporting any rate increases subject to the new federal rate review process. The regulations clarify that HHS review will not supersede existing state review and approval processes, but plans deemed to have a history of "unreasonable" rate increases may be prohibited from participating in the state-based exchanges that become active under the Health Reform Legislation in 2014. Under the regulations, the HHS rate review process would apply only to health plans in the individual and small group markets.

Effective 2011/2012 : CMS reduced or froze benchmarks which affect our Medicare Advantage reimbursements from CMS between 2009 and 2011, and beginning in 2012, additional cuts to Medicare Advantage benchmarks will take effect (benchmarks will ultimately range from 95% of Medicare fee-for-service rates in high cost areas to 115% in low cost areas), with changes being phased-in over two to six years, depending on the level of benchmark reduction in a county. In addition to other measures, quality bonuses may partially offset these anticipated benchmark reductions as CMS quality rating bonuses are phased in over three years beginning in 2012.

Effective 2013 : Effective beginning in 2013 with respect to services performed after 2009, the Health Reform Legislation limits the deductibility of executive compensation under Section 162(m) of the Internal Revenue Code for insurance providers if at least 25% of the insurance provider's gross premium income from health business is derived from health insurance plans that meet the minimum creditable coverage requirements.

Effective 2013/2014 : The Health Reform Legislation provides for an increase in Medicaid fee-for-service and managed care program reimbursements for primary care services provided by primary care doctors (family medicine, general internal medicine or pediatric medicine) to 100% of the Medicare payment rates for 2013 and 2014, and provides 100% federal financing for the difference in rates based on rates applicable on July 1, 2009.

Effective 2014 : A number of the provisions of the Health Reform Legislation are scheduled to take effect in 2014, including: an annual insurance industry assessment ($8 billion levied on the insurance industry in 2014 with increasing annual amounts thereafter), which is not deductible for income tax purposes; expansion of Medicaid eligibility for all individuals and families with incomes up to 133% of the federal poverty level (states can early adopt the expansion without increased federal funding prior to 2014) with states receiving full federal matching in 2014 through 2016; all

individual and group health plans must offer coverage on a guaranteed issue and guaranteed renewal basis during annual open enrollment and special enrollment periods and cannot apply pre-existing condition exclusions or health status rating adjustments; elimination of annual limits on essential benefits coverage on certain plans; establishment of state-based exchanges for individuals and small employers (generally, with up to 100 employees) as well as certain CHIP eligibles; introduction of plan designs based on set actuarial values to increase comparability of competing products on the exchanges; and establishment of minimum medical loss ratio of 85% for Medicare Advantage plans, as calculated under rules that have not yet been issued.

The Health Reform Legislation and the related federal and state regulations will impact how we do business and could restrict revenue and enrollment growth in certain products and market segments, restrict premium growth rates for certain products and market segments, increase our medical and administrative costs, expose us to an increased risk of liability (including increasing our liability in federal and state courts for coverage determinations and contract interpretation) or put us at risk for loss of business. In addition, our results of operations, financial position, including our ability to maintain the value of our goodwill, and cash flows could be materially and adversely affected by such changes. The Health Reform Legislation may also create new or expand existing opportunities for business growth, but due to its complexity, the impact of the Health Reform Legislation remains difficult to predict and is not yet fully known. See also Item 1A, "Risk Factors" for a discussion of the risks related to the Health Reform Legislation and related matters.

Other Federal Laws and Regulation

We are subject to various levels of federal regulation. For example, when we contract with the federal government, we are subject to federal laws and regulations relating to the award, administration and performance of U.S. government contracts. CMS regulates our UnitedHealthcare Medicare & Retirement and UnitedHealthcare Community & State Medicare and Medicaid businesses, as well as certain aspects of our Optum businesses. Our UnitedHealthcare Medicare & Retirement and UnitedHealthcare Community & State businesses submit information relating to the health status of enrollees to CMS (or state agencies) for purposes of determining the amount of certain payments to us. CMS also has the right to audit performance to determine compliance with CMS contracts and regulations and the quality of care given to Medicare beneficiaries. See Note 12 of Notes to the Consolidated Financial Statements and risk factors in this Form 10-K for a discussion of audits by CMS.

Our UnitedHealthcare reporting segment, through UnitedHealthcare Community & State, also has Medicaid and CHIP contracts that are subject to federal regulations regarding services to be provided to Medicaid enrollees, payment for those services and other aspects of these programs. There are many regulations surrounding Medicare and Medicaid compliance, and the regulatory environment with respect to these programs has become and will continue to become increasingly complex as a result of the Health Reform Legislation. In addition, certain of Optum's businesses hold contracts with federal agencies, including the U.S. Department of Defense, and we are subject to federal law and regulations relating to the administration of these contracts.

Certain of UnitedHealthcare's and Optum's businesses, such as UnitedHealthcare's eyeglass manufacturing activities and Optum's high clinical acuity workflow software, hearing aid products, and clinical research activities, are subject to regulation by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, and the clinical research activities are also subject to laws and regulations outside of the United States that regulate clinical trials. Laws and regulations relating to consumer protection, anti-fraud and abuse, anti-kickbacks, false claims, prohibited referrals, inappropriately reducing or limiting health care services, anti-money laundering, securities and antitrust also affect us.

HIPAA, GLBA and Other Privacy and Security Regulation. The administrative simplification provisions of the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996, as amended (HIPAA), apply to both the group and individual health insurance markets, including self-funded employee benefit plans. HIPAA requires guaranteed health care coverage for small employers and certain eligible individuals. It also requires guaranteed renewability for employers and individuals and limits exclusions based on pre-existing conditions. Federal regulations related to HIPAA include minimum standards for electronic transactions and code sets, and for the privacy and security of protected health information. The HIPAA privacy regulations do not preempt more stringent state laws and regulations that may also apply to us.

Federal privacy and security requirements change frequently because of legislation, regulations and judicial or administrative interpretation. For example, the U.S. Congress enacted the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (ARRA), which significantly amends, and adds new privacy and security provisions to HIPAA and imposes additional requirements on uses and disclosures of health information. ARRA includes new contracting requirements for HIPAA business associate agreements; extends parts of HIPAA privacy and security provisions to business associates; adds new federal data breach notification requirements for covered entities and business associates and new reporting requirements to HHS and the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) and, in some cases, to the local media; strengthens enforcement and imposes higher financial penalties for HIPAA violations and, in certain cases, imposes criminal penalties for individuals, including employees. We are awaiting final

regulations on many key aspects of the ARRA amendments to HIPAA. In the conduct of our business, we may act, depending on the circumstances, as either a covered entity or a business associate. Federal consumer protection laws may also apply in some instances to privacy and security practices related to personal identifiable information. The use and disclosure of individually identifiable health data by our businesses is also regulated in some instances by other federal laws, including the Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act (GLBA) or state statutes implementing GLBA, which generally require insurers to provide customers with notice regarding how their non-public personal health and financial information is used and the opportunity to "opt out" of certain disclosures before the insurer shares such information with a third party, and which generally require safeguards for the protection of personal information. See Item 1A, "Risk Factors" for a discussion of the risks related to compliance with HIPAA, GLBA and other privacy-related regulations.

ERISA. The Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974, as amended (ERISA), regulates how goods and services are provided to or through certain types of employer-sponsored health benefit plans. ERISA is a set of laws and regulations that is subject to periodic interpretation by the DOL as well as the federal courts. ERISA places controls on how our business units may do business with employers who sponsor employee benefit health plans, particularly those that maintain self-funded plans. Regulations established by the DOL provide additional rules for claims payment and member appeals under health care plans governed by ERISA. Additionally, some states require licensure or registration of companies providing third-party claims administration services for health care plans.

FDIC. The FDIC has federal regulatory authority over OptumHealth Bank and performs annual examinations to ensure that the bank is operating in accordance with federal safety and soundness requirements. In addition to such annual examinations, the FDIC performs periodic examinations of the bank's compliance with applicable federal banking statutes, regulations and agency guidelines. In the event of unfavorable examination results, the bank could be subject to increased operational expenses and capital requirements, governmental oversight and monetary penalties.

State Laws and Regulation

Health Care Regulation. Our insurance and HMO subsidiaries must be licensed by the jurisdictions in which they conduct business. All of the states in which our subsidiaries offer insurance and HMO products regulate those products and operations. These states require periodic financial reports and establish minimum capital or restricted cash reserve requirements. With the amendment of the Annual Financial Reporting Model Regulation by the National Association of Insurance Commissioners (NAIC) to adopt elements substantially similar to the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002, we expect that these states will continue to expand the scope of regulations relating to corporate governance and internal control activities of HMOs and insurance companies. Certain states have also adopted their own regulations for minimum medical loss ratios with which health plans must comply. In addition, a number of state legislatures have enacted or are contemplating significant reforms of their health insurance markets, either independent of or to comply with or be eligible for grants or other incentives in connection with the Health Reform Legislation. We expect the states to continue to introduce and pass similar laws in 2012, and this will affect our operations and our financial results.

Health plans and insurance companies are also regulated under state insurance holding company regulations. Such regulations generally require registration with applicable state departments of insurance and the filing of reports that describe capital structure, ownership, financial condition, certain intercompany transactions and general business operations. Some state insurance holding company laws and regulations require prior regulatory approval of acquisitions and material intercompany transfers of assets, as well as transactions between the regulated companies and their parent holding companies or affiliates. These laws may restrict the ability of our regulated subsidiaries to pay dividends to our holding companies.

In addition, some of our business and related activities may be subject to other health care-related regulations and requirements, including PPO, managed care organization (MCO), utilization review (UR) or third-party administrator-related regulations and licensure requirements. These regulations differ from state to state, and may contain network, contracting, product and rate, and financial and reporting requirements. There are laws and regulations that set specific standards for delivery of services, payment of claims, adequacy of health care professional networks, fraud prevention, the protection of consumer health information, pricing and underwriting practices and covered benefits and services. State health care anti-fraud and abuse prohibitions encompass a wide range of activities, including kickbacks for referral of members, billing unnecessary medical services and improper marketing. Certain of our businesses are subject to state general agent, broker, and sales distributions laws and regulations. Our UnitedHealthcare Community & State and UnitedHealthcare Medicare & Retirement businesses are subject to regulation by state Medicaid agencies that oversee the provision of benefits to our Medicaid and CHIP beneficiaries and to our dually-eligible Medicaid beneficiaries. We also contract with state governmental entities and are subject to state laws and regulations relating to the award, administration and performance of state government contracts.

Guaranty Fund Assessments . Under state guaranty fund laws, certain insurance companies (and HMOs in some states), including those issuing health, long-term care, life and accident insurance policies, doing business in those states can be assessed (up to prescribed limits) for certain obligations to the policyholders and claimants of insolvent insurance companies

that write the same line or lines of business. Assessments generally are based on a formula relating to premiums in the state compared to the premiums of other insurers and could be spread out over a period of years. Some states permit member insurers to recover assessments paid through full or partial premium tax offsets. See Note 12 of Notes to the Consolidated Financial Statements for a discussion of a matter involving Penn Treaty Network American Insurance Company and its subsidiary (Penn Treaty), which have been placed in rehabilitation.

Pharmacy Regulation. OptumRx's mail order pharmacies must be licensed to do business as pharmacies in the states in which they are located. Our mail order pharmacies must also register with the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration and individual state controlled substance authorities to dispense controlled substances. In many of the states where our mail order pharmacies deliver pharmaceuticals there are laws and regulations that require out-of-state mail order pharmacies to register with that state's board of pharmacy or similar regulatory body. These states generally permit the pharmacy to follow the laws of the state in which the mail order pharmacy is located, although some states require that we also comply with certain laws in that state. Our mail order pharmacies maintain certain Medicare and state Medicaid provider numbers as pharmacies providing services under these programs. Participation in these programs requires the pharmacies to comply with the applicable Medicare and Medicaid provider rules and regulations. Other laws and regulations affecting our mail order pharmacies include federal and state statutes and regulations governing the labeling, packaging, advertising and adulteration of prescription drugs and dispensing of controlled substances. See Item 1A, "Risk Factors" for a discussion of the risks related to our PBM businesses.

Privacy and Security Laws. States have adopted regulations to implement provisions of the GLBA. Like HIPAA, GLBA allows states to adopt more stringent requirements governing privacy protection. A number of states have also adopted other laws and regulations that may affect our privacy and security practices, for example, state laws that govern the use, disclosure and protection of social security numbers and sensitive health information or that are designed to protect credit card account data. State and local authorities increasingly focus on the importance of protecting individuals from identity theft, with a significant number of states enacting laws requiring businesses to notify individuals of security breaches involving personal information. State consumer protection laws may also apply to privacy and security practices related to personally identifiable information, including information related to consumers and care providers. Additionally, different approaches to state privacy and insurance regulation and varying enforcement philosophies in the different states may materially and adversely affect our ability to standardize our products and services across state lines. See Item 1A, "Risk Factors" for a discussion of the risks related to compliance with state privacy and security-related regulations.

UDFI. The Utah State Department of Financial Institutions (UDFI) has state regulatory and supervisory authority over OptumHealth Bank and in conjunction with federal regulators performs annual examinations to ensure that the bank is operating in accordance with state safety and soundness requirements. In addition to such annual examinations, the UDFI in conjunction with federal regulators performs periodic examinations of the bank's compliance with applicable state banking statutes, regulations and agency guidelines. In the event of unfavorable examination results, the bank could be subjected to increased operational expenses and capital requirements, governmental oversight and monetary penalties.

Corporate Practice of Medicine and Fee-Splitting Laws. Certain of our businesses function as direct service providers to care delivery systems and, as such, are subject to additional laws and regulations. Some states have corporate practice of medicine laws that prohibit certain entities from practicing medicine or employing physicians to practice medicine. Additionally, some states prohibit certain entities from sharing in the fees or revenues of a professional practice (fee-splitting). These prohibitions may be statutory or regulatory, or may be a matter of judicial or regulatory interpretation. These laws, regulations and interpretations have, in certain states, been subject to limited judicial and regulatory interpretation and are subject to change.

Consumer Protection Laws. Certain businesses participate in direct-to-consumer activities and are subject to emerging regulations applicable to on-line communications and other general consumer protection laws and regulations.

Audits and Investigations

We have been and are currently involved in various governmental investigations, audits and reviews. These include routine, regular and special investigations, audits and reviews by CMS, state insurance and health and welfare departments, state attorneys general, the Office of the Inspector General, the Office of Personnel Management, the Office of Civil Rights, the FTC, U.S. Congressional committees, the U.S. Department of Justice, U.S. Attorneys, the SEC, the Internal Revenue Service (IRS), the DOL, the FDIC and other governmental authorities. Such government actions can result in assessment of damages, civil or criminal fines or penalties, or other sanctions, including loss of licensure or exclusion from participation in government programs. See Note 12 of Notes to the Consolidated Financial Statements for details. In addition, disclosure of any adverse investigation, audit results or sanctions could adversely affect our reputation in various markets and make it more difficult for us to sell our products and services and retain our current business.

International Regulation

Most of our business is conducted in the United States. However, some of our businesses and operations are international in nature and are consequently subject to regulation in the jurisdictions in which they are organized or conduct business. These

regulatory regimes encompass tax, licensing, tariffs, intellectual property, investment, management control, anti-fraud, anti-corruption and privacy and data protection regulations (including requirements for cross-border data transfers) that vary from jurisdiction to jurisdiction, among other matters. These international operations are also subject to United States laws that regulate activities of U.S.-based businesses abroad.

COMPETITION

As a diversified health and well-being services company, we operate in highly competitive markets. Our competitors include managed health care companies, insurance companies, HMOs, TPAs and business services outsourcing companies, health care professionals that have formed networks to directly contract with employers or with CMS, specialty benefit providers, government entities, disease management companies, and various health information and consulting companies. For our UnitedHealthcare businesses, competitors include Aetna Inc., Cigna Corporation, Coventry Health Care, Inc., Health Net, Inc., Humana Inc., Kaiser Permanente, WellPoint, Inc., numerous for-profit and not-for-profit organizations operating under licenses from the Blue Cross Blue Shield Association and other enterprises that serve more limited geographic areas. For our OptumRx businesses, competitors include Medco Health Solutions, Inc., CVS Caremark Corporation and Express Scripts, Inc. Our OptumHealth and OptumInsight reportable segments also compete with a broad and diverse set of businesses. New entrants into the markets in which we compete, as well as consolidation within these markets, also contribute to a competitive environment. We believe the principal competitive factors that can impact our businesses relate to the sales, marketing and pricing of our products and services; product innovation; consumer satisfaction; the level and quality of products and services; care delivery; network capabilities; market share; product distribution systems; efficiency of administration operations; financial strength and marketplace reputation. If we fail to compete effectively to maintain or increase our market share, including maintaining or increasing enrollments in businesses providing health benefits, our results of operations, financial position and cash flows could be materially and adversely affected. See Item 1A, "Risk Factors," for additional discussion of our risks related to competition.

EMPLOYEES

As of December 31, 2011, we employed approximately 99,000 individuals. We believe our employee relations are generally positive.

EXECUTIVE OFFICERS OF THE REGISTRANT

The following sets forth certain information regarding our executive officers as of February 8, 2012 , including the business experience of each executive officer during the past five years:

Our Board of Directors elects executive officers annually. Our executive officers serve until their successors are duly elected and qualified.

Mr. Hemsley is President and Chief Executive Officer of UnitedHealth Group, has served in that capacity since January 2007, and has been a member of the Board of Directors since February 2000.

Mr. Wichmann is Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer of UnitedHealth Group and President of UnitedHealth Group Operations and has served in that capacity since January 2011. Mr. Wichmann has served as Executive Vice President and President of UnitedHealth Group Operations since April 2008. From January 2007 to April 2008, Mr. Wichmann served as

Executive Vice President of UnitedHealth Group and President of the Commercial Markets Group (now UnitedHealthcare Employer & Individual).

Mr. Baer is Executive Vice President and Chief Legal Officer of UnitedHealth Group and has served in that capacity since May 2011. Prior to joining UnitedHealth Group, Mr. Baer served as Executive Vice President and General Counsel of Qwest Communications International Inc. from 2007 to April 2011 and Chief Administrative Officer from August 2008 to April 2011.

Ms. Boudreaux is Executive Vice President of UnitedHealth Group and Chief Executive Officer of UnitedHealthcare and has served in that capacity since January 2011. Ms. Boudreaux has overall responsibility for all UnitedHealthcare health benefits businesses. Ms. Boudreaux served as Executive Vice President of UnitedHealth Group and President of UnitedHealthcare from May 2008 to January 2011. Prior to joining UnitedHealth Group, Ms. Boudreaux served as Executive Vice President of Health Care Services Corporation (HCSC) from January 2007 to April 2008.

Mr. Munsell is Executive Vice President of UnitedHealth Group and has served in that capacity since January 2011. Mr. Munsell focuses on enterprise-wide initiatives, including emerging growth and expansion opportunities; public, regulatory and governmental affairs and representation; reputation and market image efforts, and external relationships and alliances for the enterprise. Mr. Munsell served as Executive Vice President of UnitedHealth Group and President of the Enterprise Services Group from September 2007 to January 2011. From January 2007 to August 2007, Mr. Munsell served as Executive Vice President of UnitedHealth Group.

Mr. Rangen is Senior Vice President and Chief Accounting Officer of UnitedHealth Group and has served in that capacity since January 2007.

Mr. Renfro is Executive Vice President of UnitedHealth Group and Chief Executive Officer of Optum and has served in that capacity since July 2011. From January 2011 to July 2011, Mr. Renfro served as Executive Vice President of UnitedHealth Group. From October 2009 to January 2011, Mr. Renfro served as Executive Vice President of UnitedHealth Group and Chief Executive Officer of the Public and Senior Markets Group. From January 2009 to October 2009, Mr. Renfro served as Executive Vice President of UnitedHealth Group and Chief Executive Officer of Ovations (now UnitedHealthcare Medicare & Retirement). Prior to joining UnitedHealth Group, Mr. Renfro served as President of Fidelity Developing Businesses at Fidelity Investments and as a member of the Fidelity Executive Committee from June 2008 to January 2009. From January 2007 to May 2008, Mr. Renfro held several senior positions at AARP Services Inc., including President and Chief Executive Officer of AARP Services Inc., Chief Operating Officer of AARP Services Inc., President and Chief Executive Officer of AARP Financial and President of the AARP Funds.

Ms. Sweere is Executive Vice President of Human Capital of UnitedHealth Group and has served in that capacity since June 2007. Prior to joining UnitedHealth Group, Ms. Sweere served as Executive Vice President of Human Resources of CNA Financial Corporation from January 2007 to May 2007.

Dr. Tuckson is Executive Vice President and Chief of Medical Affairs of UnitedHealth Group and has served in that capacity since January 2007.

Mr. Welters is Executive Vice President of UnitedHealth Group and has served in that capacity since January 2007. Mr. Welters focuses on enterprise-wide initiatives, including emerging growth and expansion opportunities; public, regulatory and governmental affairs and representation; reputation and market image efforts, and external relationships and alliances for the enterprise. Mr. Welters served as Executive Vice President of UnitedHealth Group and President of the Public and Senior Market Group from September 2007 to January 2011.

Additional Information

UnitedHealth Group Incorporated was incorporated in January 1977 in Minnesota. Our executive offices are located at UnitedHealth Group Center, 9900 Bren Road East, Minnetonka, Minnesota 55343; our telephone number is (952) 936-1300.

You can access our website at www.unitedhealthgroup.com to learn more about our Company. From that site, you can download and print copies of our annual reports to shareholders, annual reports on Form 10-K, quarterly reports on Form 10-Q, and current reports on Form 8-K, along with amendments to those reports. You can also download from our website our Articles of Incorporation, bylaws and corporate governance policies, including our Principles of Governance, Board of Directors Committee Charters, and Code of Conduct. We make periodic reports and amendments available, free of charge, as soon as reasonably practicable after we file or furnish these reports to the SEC. We will also provide a copy of any of our corporate governance policies published on our website free of charge, upon request. To request a copy of any of these documents, please submit your request to: UnitedHealth Group Incorporated, 9900 Bren Road East, Minnetonka, MN 55343, Attn: Corporate Secretary. Information on or linked to our website is neither part of nor incorporated by reference into this Annual Report on Form 10-K or any other SEC filings.

Our transfer agent, Wells Fargo Shareowner Services, can help you with a variety of shareholder-related services, including change of address, lost stock certificates, transfer of stock to another person and other administrative services. You can write to

our transfer agent at: Wells Fargo Shareowner Services, P.O. Box 64854, St. Paul, Minnesota 55164-0854, email stocktransfer@wellsfargo.com , or telephone (800) 468-9716 or (651) 450-4064.

ITEM 1A.    RISK FACTORS

CAUTIONARY STATEMENTS

The statements, estimates, projections, guidance or outlook contained in this Annual Report on Form 10-K include forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 (PSLRA). When used in this Annual Report on Form 10-K and in future filings by us with the SEC, in our news releases, presentations to securities analysts or investors, and in oral statements made by or with the approval of one of our executive officers, the words or phrases "believe," "expect," "intend," "estimate," "anticipate," "plan," project," "should" or similar expressions are intended to identify such forward-looking statements. These statements are intended to take advantage of the "safe harbor" provisions of the PSLRA. These forward-looking statements involve risks and uncertainties that may cause our actual results to differ materially from the results discussed in the forward-looking statements.

The following discussion contains certain cautionary statements regarding our business that investors and others should consider. We do not undertake to address or update forward-looking statements in future filings or communications regarding our business or results of operations, and do not undertake to address how any of these factors may have caused results to differ from discussions or information contained in previous filings or communications. In addition, any of the matters discussed below may have affected past, as well as current, forward-looking statements about future results. Any or all forward-looking statements in this Form 10-K and in any other public filings or statements we make may turn out to be wrong. They can be affected by inaccurate assumptions we might make or by known or unknown risks and uncertainties. Many factors discussed below will be important in determining future results. By their nature, forward-looking statements are not guarantees of future performance or results and are subject to risks, uncertainties and assumptions that are difficult to predict or quantify. Actual future results may vary materially from expectations expressed in this report or any of our prior communications.

If we fail to effectively estimate, price for and manage our medical costs, the profitability of our risk-based products and services could decline and could materially and adversely affect our results of operations, financial position and cash flows.

Under our risk-based benefit product arrangements, we assume the risk of both medical and administrative costs for our customers in return for monthly premiums. Premium revenues from risk-based benefits products comprise approximately 90% of our total consolidated revenues. We generally use approximately 80% to 85% of our premium revenues to pay the costs of health care services delivered to these customers. The profitability of these products depends in large part on our ability to predict, price for, and effectively manage medical costs. In this regard, the Health Reform Legislation established minimum medical loss ratios for certain health plans, and authorized HHS to maintain an annual review process of "unreasonable" increases in premiums for commercial health plans. In addition, a number of states have enhanced (or are proposing to enhance) their premium review and approval processes. See the risk factor below relating to health care reform for further discussion of these provisions.

We manage medical costs through underwriting criteria, product design, negotiation of favorable provider contracts and care management programs. Total medical costs are affected by the number of individual services rendered and the cost of each service. Our premium revenue on commercial policies is typically at a fixed rate per individual served for a 12-month period and is generally priced one to four months before the contract commences. Our revenue on Medicare policies is based on bids submitted in June the year before the contract year. We base the premiums we charge and our Medicare bids on our estimates of future medical costs over the fixed contract period; however, medical cost inflation, regulation and other factors may cause actual costs to exceed what was estimated and reflected in premiums or bids. These factors may include increased use of services, increased cost of individual services, catastrophes, epidemics, the introduction of new or costly treatments and technology, new mandated benefits (such as the expansion of essential benefits coverage) or other regulatory changes, insured population characteristics and seasonal changes in the level of health care use. As a measure of the impact of medical costs on our financial results, relatively small differences between predicted and actual medical costs or utilization rates as a percentage of revenues can result in significant changes in our financial results. For example, if medical costs increased by 1% without a proportional change in related revenues for commercial insured products our annual net earnings for 2011 would have been reduced by approximately $215 million, excluding any offsetting impact from premium rebates.

In addition, the financial results we report for any particular period include estimates of costs that have been incurred for which claims are still outstanding. These estimates involve an extensive degree of judgment. If these estimates prove too low, our results of operations could be materially and adversely affected.

Our business activities are highly regulated; new laws or regulations or changes in existing laws or regulations or their enforcement or application could materially and adversely affect our results of operations, financial position and cash flows.

Our business is regulated at the federal, state, local and international levels. Our insurance and HMO subsidiaries must be licensed by and are subject to the regulations of the jurisdictions in which they conduct business. For example, states require periodic financial reports and enforce minimum capital or restricted cash reserve requirements. Health plans and insurance companies are also regulated under state insurance holding company regulations, and some of our activities may be subject to other health care-related regulations and requirements, including those relating to PPOs, MCOs, utilization review and TPA-related regulations and licensure requirements. Some of our businesses hold or provide services related to government contracts and are subject to federal and state anti-kickback and other laws and regulations governing government contractors. See Item 1, "Business - Government Regulation" for further information.

The laws and rules governing our business and interpretations of those laws and rules are subject to frequent change. For example, in the first quarter of 2010, the Health Reform Legislation was signed into law, legislating broad-based changes to the U.S. health care system. See Item 1, "Business - Government Regulation" for a discussion of the Health Reform Legislation. The broad latitude that is given to the agencies administering regulations governing our business, as well as future laws and rules, and interpretation and enforcement of those laws and rules by governmental enforcement authorities, could force us to change how we do business, restrict revenue and enrollment growth, increase our health care and administrative costs and capital requirements, and increase our liability in federal and state courts for coverage determinations, contract interpretation and other actions.

We must also obtain and maintain regulatory approvals to market many of our products, to increase prices for certain regulated products and to complete certain acquisitions and dispositions, including integration of certain acquisitions. For example, premium rates for our health insurance and/or managed care products are subject to regulatory review or approval in many states, and a number of states have enhanced (or are proposing to enhance) their rate review processes. Delays in obtaining necessary approvals or our failure to obtain or maintain adequate approvals could materially and adversely affect our revenues, results of operations, financial position and cash flows.

Under state guaranty fund laws, certain insurance companies (and HMOs in some states), including those issuing health (which includes long-term care), life and accident insurance policies, doing business in those states can be assessed (up to prescribed limits) for certain obligations to the policyholders and claimants of insolvent insurance companies that write the same line or lines of business. Changes in these laws or the interpretation thereof, or insolvency by another insurer, could have a material adverse effect on our results of operations, financial position and cash flows. See Note 12 of Notes to the Consolidated Financial Statements in this Form 10-K for a discussion of a matter involving an unaffiliated entity, Penn Treaty, which has been placed in rehabilitation.

Certain Optum businesses are also subject to regulatory and other risks and uncertainties in addition to the risks of our businesses of providing managed care and health insurance products. For example, state corporate practice of medicine doctrines and fee-splitting rules can impact our relationships with physicians, hospitals and customers. OptumHealth is subject to state telemedicine laws and regulations that apply to its telemedicine initiatives. Additionally, OptumHealth participates in the emerging private exchange markets and it is not yet known to what extent the states will issue new regulations that apply to private exchanges. These risks and uncertainties may materially and adversely affect our ability to market our products and services, or to do so at targeted margins, or increase the regulatory burdens under which we operate.

We are also involved in various governmental investigations, audits and reviews. See Note 12 of Notes to the Consolidated Financial Statements in this Form 10-K for a discussion of certain of these matters. See also the risk factor below relating to our activities as a payer in various government health care programs for a discussion of audits by CMS. Reviews and investigations of this sort can lead to government actions, which can result in the assessment of damages, civil or criminal fines or penalties, or other sanctions, including restrictions or changes in the way we conduct business, loss of licensure or exclusion from participation in government programs, and could have a material adverse effect on our results of operations, financial position and cash flows.

The health care industry is also regularly subject to negative publicity, including as a result of routine governmental investigations, the political debate surrounding the Health Reform Legislation and the political environment in general. Negative publicity may adversely affect our stock price, damage our reputation in various markets, foster an increasingly active regulatory environment or result in increased regulation and legislative review of industry practices. This may further increase our costs of doing business and the regulatory burdens under which we operate.

Some of our businesses and operations are international in nature and consequently face political, economic, legal, compliance, regulatory, operational and other risks and exposures that are unique and vary by jurisdiction. The regulatory environments and associated requirements and uncertainties regarding tax, licensing, tariffs, intellectual property, privacy, data protection, investment, management control, fraud and anti-corruption present additional challenges for us beyond those faced by U.S.-based businesses. Such requirements and uncertainties may adversely affect our ability to market our products and services, or

to do so at targeted margins, or increase the regulatory burdens under which we operate.

For a discussion of various laws and regulations that impact our businesses, see Item 1, "Business - Government Regulation."

The enactment or implementation of health care reforms could materially and adversely affect the manner in which we conduct business and our results of operations, financial position and cash flows.

In the first quarter of 2010, the Health Reform Legislation was signed into law. The Health Reform Legislation expands access to coverage and modifies aspects of the commercial insurance market, as well as the Medicaid and Medicare programs and CHIP and other aspects of the health care system. Among other things, the Health Reform Legislation includes guaranteed coverage and expanded benefit requirements, eliminates pre-existing condition exclusions and annual and lifetime maximum limits, restricts the extent to which policies can be rescinded, establishes minimum medical loss ratios, creates a federal premium review process, imposes new requirements on the format and content of communications (such as explanations of benefits, or EOBs) between health insurers and their members, grants to members new and additional appeal rights, imposes new and significant taxes on health insurers and health care benefits, reduces the Medicare Part D coverage gap and reduces payments to private plans offering Medicare Advantage.

Certain provisions of the Health Reform Legislation have already taken effect, and other provisions become effective at various dates over the next several years. HHS, the DOL and the Treasury Department have issued or proposed regulations on a number of aspects of Health Reform Legislation, but final rules and interim guidance on other key aspects of the legislation remain pending. Due to the complexity of the Health Reform Legislation, the impact of the Health Reform Legislation remains difficult to predict and is not yet fully known.

For example, effective in 2011, the Health Reform Legislation established minimum medical loss ratios for all commercial health plans in the large employer group, small employer group and individual markets (85% for large employer groups, 80% for small employer groups and 80% for individuals, calculated under the definitions in the Health Reform Legislation and regulations). Companies with medical loss ratios below these targets are required to rebate ratable portions of their premiums to their customers annually. The potential for and size of the rebates will be measured by state, by group size and by licensed subsidiary. This disaggregation of insurance pools into much smaller pools will likely decrease the predictability of results for any given pool and could lead to variation over time in the estimates of rebates owed in total. Effective in 2014, Medicare Advantage plans will be required to maintain a minimum medical loss ratio of 85%. Depending on the results of these calculations and the manner in which we adjust our business model in light of these requirements, there could be meaningful disruptions in local health care markets, and our market share, revenues, results of operations, financial position and cash flows could be materially and adversely affected.

In addition, the Health Reform Legislation requires the establishment of state-based health insurance exchanges for individuals and small employers by 2014. The types of exchange participation requirements ultimately enacted by each state, the availability of federal premium subsidies within exchanges, the potential for differential imposition of state benefit mandates inside and outside the exchanges, the operation of reinsurance, risk corridors and risk adjustment mechanisms inside and outside the exchanges and the possibility that certain states may restrict the ability of health plans to continue to offer coverage to individuals and small employers outside of the exchanges, could result in disruptions in local health care markets and our revenues, results of operations, financial position and cash flows could be materially and adversely affected.

The Health Reform Legislation includes a "maintenance of effort" (MOE) provision that requires states to maintain their eligibility rules for people covered by Medicaid, until the Secretary of HHS determines that an insurance exchange is operational in a given state. The MOE provision is intended to prevent states from reducing eligibility standards and determination procedures as a way to remove adults above 133% of the federal poverty level from Medicaid before implementation of expanded Medicaid coverage effective in January 2014. However, states with, or projecting, a budget deficit may apply for an exception to the MOE provision. If states are successful in obtaining MOE waivers and allow certain Medicaid programs to expire, we could experience reduced Medicaid enrollment, which could materially and adversely affect our revenues, results of operations, financial position and cash flows.

Several of the provisions in the Health Reform Legislation will likely increase our medical cost trends. Examples of these provisions are the excise tax on medical devices, annual fees on prescription drug manufacturers, enhanced coverage requirements (including discounted prescription drugs for Medicare Part D participants) and the prohibition of pre-existing condition exclusions. The annual insurance industry assessment ($8 billion levied on the insurance industry in 2014 with increasing annual amounts thereafter), which is not deductible for income tax purposes, will increase our operating costs. Premium increases will be necessary to offset the impact these and other provisions will have on our medical and operating costs. These premium increases are oftentimes subject to state regulatory approval. In this regard, the Federal government is encouraging states to intensify their reviews of requests for rate increases by commercial health plans and providing funding to assist in those state-level reviews. We have begun to experience greater regulatory challenges to appropriate premium rate increases in several states, including California, New York and Rhode Island. In addition, as required under the Health Reform Legislation, HHS established a federal premium rate review process, which became effective in September 2011 and generally

applies to proposed rate increases equal to or exceeding 10% (with state-specific thresholds to be applicable commencing September 2012). The regulations further require commercial health plans in the individual and small group markets to provide to the states and HHS extensive information supporting any rate increases subject to the new federal rate review process. If we are not able to secure approval for adequate premium increases to offset increases in our cost structure, our revenues, results of operations, financial position and cash flows could be materially and adversely affected. In addition, plans deemed to have a history of "unreasonable" rate increases may be prohibited from participating in the state-based exchanges that become active under the Health Reform Legislation in 2014. Under the regulations, the HHS rate review process would apply only to health plans in the individual and small group markets.

The Congressional Budget Office has estimated that up to 34 million new individuals may eventually gain insurance coverage if the Health Reform Legislation is implemented broadly in its current form. In addition, we expect that implementation of the Health Reform Legislation will increase the demand for products and capabilities offered by our Optum businesses. We have made and will continue to make strategic decisions and investments based, in part, on these assumptions, and our results of operations, financial position and cash flows could be materially and adversely affected if fewer individuals gain coverage under the Health Reform Legislation than estimated or we are unable to attract these new individuals to our UnitedHealthcare offerings, or if the demand for our Optum businesses does not increase.

Certain aspects of the Health Reform Legislation are also being challenged in federal court, with the proponents of such challenges seeking to limit the scope of or have all or portions of the Health Reform Legislation declared unconstitutional. The United States Supreme Court is scheduled to hear oral arguments on certain aspects of these cases in March 2012, including the constitutionality of the individual mandate. Congress may withhold the funding necessary to implement the Health Reform Legislation, or may attempt to replace the legislation with amended provisions or repeal it altogether. Any partial or complete repeal or amendment or implementation difficulties, or uncertainty regarding such events, could materially and adversely impact our ability to capitalize on the opportunities presented by the Health Reform Legislation or may cause us to incur additional costs of compliance. For example, if the individual mandate is declared unconstitutional or repealed without corresponding changes to other provisions of the Health Reform Legislation to protect against the risk of adverse selection (such as revisions to the guaranteed issue and renewal requirements, prohibition on pre-existing condition exclusions, and rating restrictions), our results of operations, financial position and cash flows could be materially and adversely affected.

Congress is also considering additional health care reform measures, and a number of state legislatures have enacted or are contemplating significant reforms of their health insurance markets, either independent of or to comply with or be eligible for grants or other incentives in connection with the Health Reform Legislation. The effects of the Health Reform Legislation and recently adopted state laws, and the regulations that have been and will be promulgated thereunder, are difficult to predict, and we cannot predict whether any other federal or state proposals will ultimately become law. Such laws and rules could force us to materially change how we do business, restrict revenue and enrollment growth in certain products and market segments, restrict premium growth rates for certain products and market segments, adversely change the nature of our contracted network relationships, increase our medical and administrative costs and capital requirements, expose us to an increased risk of liability (including increasing our liability in federal and state courts for coverage determinations and contract interpretation) or put us at risk for loss of business. In addition, our market share, our results of operations, our financial position, including our ability to maintain the value of our goodwill, and our cash flows could be materially and adversely affected by such changes.

For additional information regarding the Health Reform Legislation, see Item 1, "Business - Government Regulation" and Item 7, "Management's Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations - Executive Overview - Regulatory Trends and Uncertainties."

As a result of our participation in various government health care programs, both as a payer and as a service provider to payers, we are exposed to additional risks associated with program funding, enrollments, payment adjustments and audits that could materially and adversely affect our revenues, results of operations, financial position and cash flows.

We participate in various federal, state and local government health care coverage programs, including as a payer in Medicare Advantage, Medicare Part D, various Medicaid programs and CHIP, and receive substantial revenues from these programs. We also provide services to payers through our Optum businesses. These programs generally are subject to frequent changes, including changes that may reduce the number of persons enrolled or eligible for coverage, reduce the amount of reimbursement or payment levels, reduce our participation in certain service areas or markets, or increase our administrative or medical costs under such programs. For example, CMS reduced or froze Medicare Advantage benchmarks that drive reimbursements between 2009 and 2011, and beginning in 2012, additional cuts to Medicare Advantage benchmarks will take effect, with changes being phased-in over two to six years, depending on the level of benchmark reduction in a county. Although we have adjusted members' benefits and premiums on a selective basis, terminated benefit plans in certain counties, and intensified both our medical and operating cost management in response to these benchmark reductions, there can be no assurance that we will be able to execute successfully on these or other strategies to address changes in the Medicare Advantage program.

As part of the Health Reform Legislation, CMS has developed a system whereby a plan that meets certain quality ratings will

be entitled to various quality bonus payments. There can be no assurance that any of our plans will meet these quality ratings. Our revenues, results of operations, financial position and cash flows could be materially and adversely affected by funding reductions, or if our plans do not meet the requirements to receive quality bonus payments. Similarly, any reduction in Medicare Advantage payments could result in downward pressure on payments made to our Collaborative Care business in exchange for services provided to Medicare Advantage plans.

Our participation in the Medicare Advantage, Medicare Part D, and various Medicaid and CHIP programs occurs through bids that are submitted periodically. Revenues for these programs are dependent upon periodic funding from the federal government or applicable state governments and allocation of the funding through various payment mechanisms. Funding for these government programs is dependent upon many factors outside of our control, including general economic conditions and budgetary constraints at the federal or applicable state level, and general political issues and priorities. A reduction or less than expected increase, or a protracted delay, in government funding for these programs or change in allocation methodologies may materially and adversely affect our revenues, results of operations, financial position and cash flows. State Medicaid programs are also imposing other reforms, such as medical loss ratio requirements on Medicaid managed care organizations, which generally require such plans to rebate ratable portions of their premiums to their state customers if they cannot demonstrate they have met the ratio standards.

CMS uses various payment mechanisms to allocate funding for Medicare programs, including adjusting monthly capitation payments to Medicare Advantage plans and Medicare Part D plans according to the predicted health status of each beneficiary as supported by data from health care providers as well as, for Medicare Part D plans only, based on comparing costs predicted in our annual bids to actual prescription drug costs. Some state Medicaid programs utilize a similar process. For example, our UnitedHealthcare Medicare & Retirement and UnitedHealthcare Community & State businesses submit information relating to the health status of enrollees to CMS or state agencies for purposes of determining the amount of certain payments to us. In 2008, CMS announced that it will perform risk adjustment data validation (RADV) audits of selected Medicare health plans each year to validate the coding practices of and supporting documentation maintained by health care providers, and certain of our local plans have been selected for audit. These audits may result in retrospective adjustments to payments made to our health plans. In December 2010, CMS published for public comment a new proposed RADV audit and payment adjustment methodology. The proposed methodology contains provisions allowing retroactive contract level payment adjustments for the year audited using an extrapolation of the "error rate" identified in audit samples. In February 2011, CMS announced that it would be making changes to the proposed methodology based, in part, on comments submitted by industry participants. As of the date of this filing, CMS has not published the revised methodology. Depending on the methodology utilized, potential payment adjustments could have a material adverse effect on our results of operations, financial position and cash flows.

In addition, the Office of Inspector General for HHS has audited our risk adjustment data for two local plans and has initially communicated its findings, although we cannot predict the final outcome of the audit process. Any payment adjustments required as a result of the audits or otherwise could have a material adverse effect on our results of operations, financial position and cash flows. See Note 12 of Notes to the Consolidated Financial Statements in this Form 10-K for additional information regarding these audits.

CMS conducts a variety of routine, regular and special investigations, audits and reviews across the industry. For example, in the fourth quarter of 2011, CMS conducted an audit of our Medicare Advantage and Part D business. We are in the process of responding to preliminary findings. As with any CMS review, in the event we fail to comply with applicable CMS and state laws, regulations and rules, our results of operations, financial position and cash flows could be materially and adversely affected.

Under the Medicaid Managed Care program, state Medicaid agencies are periodically required by federal law to seek bids from eligible health plans to continue their participation in the acute care Medicaid health programs. If we are not successful in obtaining renewals of state Medicaid Managed Care contracts, we risk losing the members that were enrolled in those Medicaid plans. Under the Medicare Part D program, to qualify for automatic enrollment of low income members, our bids must result in an enrollee premium below a regional benchmark, which is calculated by the government after all regional bids are submitted. If the enrollee premium is not below the government benchmark, we risk losing the members who were auto-assigned to us and we will not have additional members auto-assigned to us. For example, we lost approximately 470,000 of our auto-enrolled low-income subsidy members effective January 1, 2012, because certain of our bids exceeded thresholds set by the government. In general, our bids are based upon certain assumptions regarding enrollment, utilization, medical costs, and other factors. In the event any of these assumptions are materially incorrect, either as a result of unforeseen changes to the Medicare program or other programs on which we bid, or our competitors submit bids at lower rates than our bids, our results of operations, financial position and cash flows could be materially and adversely affected.

If we fail to comply with applicable privacy and security laws, regulations and standards, including with respect to third-party service providers that utilize sensitive personal information on our behalf, or if we fail to address emerging security threats or detect and prevent privacy and security incidents, our business, reputation, results of operations, financial position and cash flows could be materially and adversely affected.

The collection, maintenance, protection, use, transmission, disclosure and disposal of sensitive personal information are regulated at the federal, state, international and industry levels and requirements are imposed on us by contracts with customers. These laws, rules and requirements are subject to change. Further, many of our businesses are subject to the Payment Card Industry Data Security Standards (PCI DSS), which is a multifaceted security standard that is designed to protect credit card account data as mandated by payment card industry entities. See Item 1, "Business - Government Regulation" for additional information. HIPAA also requires business associates as well as covered entities to comply with certain privacy and security requirements. Even though we provide for appropriate protections through our contracts with our third-party service providers and in certain cases assess their security controls, we still have limited oversight or control over their actions and practices.

Our facilities and systems and those of our third-party service providers may be vulnerable to privacy and security incidents; security attacks and breaches; acts of vandalism or theft; computer viruses; coordinated attacks by activist entities; emerging cybersecurity risks; misplaced or lost data; programming and/or human errors; or other similar events. Emerging and advanced security threats, including coordinated attacks, require additional layers of security which may disrupt or impact efficiency of operations.

Compliance with new laws, regulations and requirements may result in increased operating costs, and may constrain our ability to manage our business model. For example, our ability to collect, disclose and use sensitive personal information may be further restricted, and we are awaiting final HHS regulations for many key aspects of the ARRA amendments to HIPAA, such as with regard to marketing, electronic health records and access reports (which may necessitate system changes). In addition, HHS has announced a pilot audit program to assess HIPAA compliance efforts by covered entities through 2012. Although we are not aware of HHS plans to audit any of our covered entities, an audit resulting in findings or allegations of noncompliance could have a material adverse effect on our results of operations, financial position and cash flows.

Noncompliance or findings of noncompliance with applicable laws, regulations or requirements, or the occurrence of any privacy or security breach involving the misappropriation, loss or other unauthorized disclosure of sensitive personal information, whether by us or by one of our third-party service providers, could have a material adverse effect on our reputation, results of operations, financial position and cash flows, including the following consequences: mandatory disclosure of a privacy or security breach to the media; significant increases in the cost of managing and remediating privacy or security incidents; enforcement actions; material fines and penalties; an impact on our ability to process credit card transactions as well as an increase in related expenses; litigation; compensatory, special, punitive, and statutory damages; consent orders regarding our privacy and security practices; adverse actions against our licenses to do business; and injunctive relief.

Our businesses providing PBM services face regulatory and other risks and uncertainties associated with the PBM industry that may differ from the risks of our business of providing managed care and health insurance products .

We provide PBM services through our OptumRx and UnitedHealthcare businesses. Each business is subject to federal and state anti-kickback and other laws that govern their relationships with pharmaceutical manufacturers, customers and consumers. In addition, federal and state legislatures regularly consider new regulations for the industry that could materially and adversely affect current industry practices, including the receipt or disclosure of rebates from pharmaceutical companies, the development and use of formularies, and the use of average wholesale prices. See Item 1, "Business - Government Regulation" for a discussion of various federal and state laws and regulations governing our PBM businesses.

OptumRx also conducts business as a mail order pharmacy and specialty pharmacy, which subjects it to extensive federal, state and local laws and regulations. The failure to adhere to these laws and regulations could expose OptumRx to civil and criminal penalties.

Our PBM businesses would be materially and adversely affected by an inability to contract on favorable terms with pharmaceutical manufacturers, and could face potential claims in connection with purported errors by our mail order or specialty pharmacies, including in connection with the risks inherent in the packaging and distribution of pharmaceuticals and other health care products. Disruptions at any of our mail order or specialty pharmacies due to an accident or an event that is beyond our control could affect our ability to timely process and dispense prescriptions and could materially and adversely affect our results of operations, financial position and cash flows.

In addition, our PBM businesses provide services to sponsors of health benefit plans that are subject to ERISA. The DOL, which is the agency that enforces ERISA, could assert that the fiduciary obligations imposed by the statute apply to some or all of the services provided by our PBM businesses even where our PBM businesses are not contractually obligated to assume fiduciary obligations. In the event a court were to determine that fiduciary obligations apply to our PBM businesses in connection with services for which our PBM businesses are not contractually obligated to assume fiduciary obligations, we

could be subject to claims for breaches of fiduciary obligations or entering into certain prohibited transactions.

UnitedHealthcare Employer & Individual is transitioning pharmacy benefit management for approximately 12 million of its commercial members, including pharmacy claims adjudication and customer service, from Medco Health Solutions, Inc. to OptumRx beginning in 2013. If we are unable to execute the transition effectively, UnitedHealthcare Employer & Individual could face loss of business, which could adversely impact our results of operations, financial position and cash flows.

If we fail to compete effectively to maintain or increase our market share, including maintaining or increasing enrollments in businesses providing health benefits, our results of operations, financial position and cash flows could be materially and adversely affected.

Our businesses compete throughout the United States and face significant competition in all of the geographic markets in which we operate. We compete with other companies on the basis of many factors, including price of benefits offered and cost and risk of alternatives, location and choice of health care providers, quality of customer service, comprehensiveness of coverage offered, reputation for quality care, financial stability and diversity of product offerings. For our UnitedHealthcare reporting segment, competitors include Aetna Inc., Cigna Corporation, Coventry Health Care, Inc., Health Net, Inc., Humana Inc., Kaiser Permanente, WellPoint, Inc., numerous for-profit and not-for-profit organizations operating under licenses from the BlueCross BlueShield Association and other enterprises that serve more limited geographic areas or market segments such as Medicare and Medicaid specialty services. For our OptumRx business, competitors include Medco Health Solutions, Inc., CVS/Caremark Corporation and Express Scripts, Inc. Our OptumHealth and OptumInsight reporting segments also compete with a broad and diverse set of businesses.

In particular markets, competitors may have greater capabilities, resources or market share; a more established reputation; superior supplier or health care professional arrangements; existing business relationships; or other factors that give such competitors a competitive advantage. In addition, significant merger and acquisition activity has occurred in the industries in which we operate, both as to our competitors and suppliers (including hospitals, physician groups and other care professionals) in these industries. Consolidation may make it more difficult for us to retain or increase customers, to improve the terms on which we do business with our suppliers, or to maintain or increase profitability. If we do not compete effectively in our markets, if we set rates too high or too low in highly competitive markets, if we do not design and price our products properly and competitively, if we are unable to innovate and deliver products and services that demonstrate value to our customers, if we do not provide a satisfactory level of services, if membership or demand for other services does not increase as we expect, if membership or demand for other services declines, or if we lose accounts with more profitable products while retaining or increasing membership in accounts with less profitable products, our business, results of operations, financial position and cash flows could be materially and adversely affected.

If we fail to develop and maintain satisfactory relationships with physicians, hospitals, and other health care providers, our business could be materially and adversely affected.

We contract with physicians, hospitals, pharmaceutical benefit service providers, pharmaceutical manufacturers, and other health care providers for services. Our results of operations and prospects are substantially dependent on our continued ability to contract for these services at competitive prices. Failure to develop and maintain satisfactory relationships with health care providers, whether in-network or out-of-network, could materially and adversely affect our business, results of operations, financial position and cash flows.

In any particular market, physicians and health care providers could refuse to contract, demand higher payments, or take other actions that could result in higher medical costs, less desirable products for customers or difficulty meeting regulatory or accreditation requirements. In some markets, certain health care providers, particularly hospitals, physician/hospital organizations or multi-specialty physician groups, may have significant market positions or near monopolies that could result in diminished bargaining power on our part. In addition, physician or practice management companies, which aggregate physician practices for administrative efficiency and marketing leverage, may compete directly with us. If these providers refuse to contract with us, use their market position to negotiate favorable contracts or place us at a competitive disadvantage, our ability to market products or to be profitable in those areas could be materially and adversely affected.

In addition, we have capitation arrangements with some physicians, hospitals and other health care providers. Under the typical capitation arrangement, the health care provider receives a fixed percentage of premiums to cover all or a defined portion of the medical costs provided to the capitated member. Under some capitated arrangements, the provider may also receive additional compensation from risk sharing and other incentive arrangements. Capitation arrangements limit our exposure to the risk of increasing medical costs, but expose us to risk related to the adequacy of the financial and medical care resources of the health care provider. To the extent that a capitated health care provider organization faces financial difficulties or otherwise is unable to perform its obligations under the capitation arrangement, we may be held responsible for unpaid health care claims that should have been the responsibility of the capitated health care provider and for which we have already paid the provider under the capitation arrangement. Further, payment or other disputes between a primary care provider and specialists with whom the primary care provider contracts can result in a disruption in the provision of services to our members or a reduction in the

services available to our members. There can be no assurance that health care providers with whom we contract will properly manage the costs of services, maintain financial solvency or avoid disputes with other providers. Any of these events could have a material adverse effect on the provision of services to our members and our operations.

Some providers that render services to our members do not have contracts with us. In those cases, we do not have a pre-established understanding about the amount of compensation that is due to the provider for services rendered to our members. In some states, the amount of compensation due to these out-of-network providers is defined by law or regulation, but in most instances, it is either not defined or it is established by a standard that does not clearly specify dollar terms. In some instances, providers may believe that they are underpaid for their services and may either litigate or arbitrate their dispute with us or try to recover from our members the difference between what we have paid them and the amount they charged us. For example, we are involved in litigation with out-of-network providers, as described in more detail in "Litigation Matters" in Note 12 of Notes to the Consolidated Financial Statements.

Accountable care organizations (ACOs) and other organizational structures that physicians, hospitals, and other care providers choose may change the way that these providers interact with us and may change the competitive landscape. These changes may affect the way that we price our products and estimate our costs and may require us to incur costs to change our operations, and our results of operations, financial position and cash flows could be adversely affected.

The success of certain Optum businesses depends on maintaining satisfactory physician relationships. The primary care physicians that practice medicine or contract with our affiliated physician organizations could terminate their provider contracts or otherwise become unable or unwilling to continue practicing medicine or contracting with us. If we are unable to maintain satisfactory relationships with primary care physicians, or to retain enrollees following the departure of a physician, our revenues could be materially and adversely affected. In addition, our affiliated physician organizations contract with health insurance and HMO competitors of UnitedHealthcare. If our affiliated physician organizations fail to maintain relationships with these health insurance or HMO companies, our results of operations, financial position and cash flows could be materially and adversely affected.

In addition, physicians, hospitals, pharmaceutical benefit service providers, pharmaceutical manufacturers, and certain health care providers are customers of our Optum businesses. Given the importance of health care providers and other constituents to our businesses, failure to maintain satisfactory relationships with them could materially and adversely affect our results of operations, financial position and cash flows.

Sales of our products and services are dependent on our ability to attract, retain and provide support to a network of independent producers and consultants.

Our products are sold in part through independent producers and consultants who assist in the production and servicing of business. We typically do not have long-term contracts with our producers and consultants, who generally are not exclusive to us and who typically also recommend and/or market health care products and services of our competitors. As a result, we must compete intensely for their services and allegiance. Our sales would be materially and adversely affected if we are unable to attract or retain independent producers and consultants or if we do not adequately provide support, training and education to them regarding our product portfolio, or if our sales strategy is not appropriately aligned across distribution channels.

Because producer commissions are included as administrative expenses under the medical loss ratio requirements of the Health Reform Legislation, these expenses will be under the same cost reduction pressures as other administrative costs. Our relationships with producers could be materially and adversely impacted by changes in our business practices and the nature of our relationships to address these pressures, including potential reductions in commissions.

In addition, there have been a number of investigations regarding the marketing practices of producers selling health care products and the payments they receive. These have resulted in enforcement actions against companies in our industry and producers marketing and selling these companies' products. For example, CMS and state departments of insurance have increased their scrutiny of the marketing practices of producers who market Medicare products. These investigations and enforcement actions could result in penalties and the imposition of corrective action plans, which could materially and adversely impact our ability to market our products.

Our relationship with AARP is important and the loss of such relationship could have an adverse effect on our business and results of operations.

Under our agreements with AARP, we provide AARP-branded Medicare Supplement insurance, hospital indemnity insurance and other products and services to AARP members under a Supplement Health Insurance Program (the AARP Program). We also provide AARP-branded Medicare Advantage and Medicare Part D prescription drug plans to both AARP members and non-members. Our agreements with AARP extend to December 31, 2017 for the AARP Program and December 31, 2014 for the Medicare Advantage and Medicare Part D offerings. Our agreements with AARP contain commitments regarding corporate governance, corporate social responsibility, diversity and measures intended to improve and simplify the health care experience for consumers. The AARP agreements may be terminated early under certain circumstances, including, depending on the

agreement, a material breach by either party, insolvency of either party, a material adverse change in our financial condition, material changes in the Medicare programs, material harm to AARP caused by us, and by mutual agreement. The success of our AARP arrangements depends, in part, on our ability to service AARP and its members, develop additional products and services, price the products and services competitively, meet our corporate governance, corporate social responsibility, and diversity commitments, and respond effectively to federal and state regulatory changes. The loss of our AARP relationship could have an adverse effect on our business and results of operations.

Because of the nature of our business, we are routinely subject to various litigation actions, which could damage our reputation and, if resolved unfavorably, could result in substantial penalties and/or monetary damages and materially and adversely affect our results of operations, financial position and cash flows.

Because of the nature of our business, we are routinely made party to a variety of legal actions related to, among other things, the design, management and delivery of our product and service offerings. These matters have included or could in the future include claims related to health care benefits coverage and payment (including disputes with enrollees, customers, and contracted and non-contracted physicians, hospitals and other health care professionals), tort (including claims related to the delivery of health care services), contract disputes and claims related to disclosure of certain business practices. We are also party to certain class action lawsuits brought by health care professional groups and consumers. We are largely self-insured with regard to litigation risks. Although we maintain excess liability insurance with outside insurance carriers for claims in excess of our self-insurance, certain types of damages, such as punitive damages in some circumstances, are not covered by insurance. We record liabilities for our estimates of the probable costs resulting from self-insured matters; however, it is possible that the level of actual losses will significantly exceed the liabilities recorded.

A description of significant legal actions in which we are currently involved is included in Note 12 of Notes to the Consolidated Financial Statements. We cannot predict the outcome of these actions with certainty, and we are incurring expenses in resolving these matters. The legal actions we face or may face in the future could further increase our cost of doing business and materially and adversely affect our results of operations, financial position and cash flows. In addition, certain legal actions could result in adverse publicity, which could damage our reputation and materially and adversely affect our ability to retain our current business or grow our market share in select markets and businesses .

Unfavorable economic conditions could materially and adversely affect our revenues and our results of operations.

Unfavorable economic conditions may continue to impact demand for certain of our products and services. For example, decreases in employment have caused and could continue to cause lower enrollment in our employer group plans, lower enrollment in our non-employer individual plans and a higher number of employees opting out of our employer group plans. Unfavorable economic conditions have also caused and could continue to cause employers to stop offering certain health care coverage as an employee benefit or elect to offer this coverage on a voluntary, employee-funded basis as a means to reduce their operating costs. In addition, unfavorable economic conditions could continue to adversely impact our employer group renewal prospects and our ability to increase premiums and could result in cancellation of products and services by our customers. All of these could lead to a decrease in our membership levels and premium and fee revenues and could materially and adversely affect our results of operations, financial position and cash flows.

During a prolonged unfavorable economic environment, state and federal budgets could be materially and adversely affected, resulting in reduced reimbursements or payments in our federal and state government health care coverage programs, including Medicare, Medicaid and CHIP. A reduction in state Medicaid reimbursement rates could be implemented retrospectively to payments already negotiated and/or received from the government and could materially and adversely affect our revenues, results of operations, financial position and cash flows. In addition, the state and federal budgetary pressures could cause the government to impose new or a higher level of taxes or assessments for our commercial programs, such as premium taxes on insurance companies and health maintenance organizations and surcharges or fees on select fee-for-service and capitated medical claims, and could materially and adversely affect our results of operations, financial position and cash flows.

In addition, a prolonged unfavorable economic environment could adversely impact the financial position of hospitals and other care providers, which could materially and adversely affect our contracted rates with these parties and increase our medical costs or materially and adversely affect their ability to purchase our service offerings. Further, unfavorable economic conditions could adversely impact the customers of our Optum businesses, including health plans, HMOs, hospitals, care providers, employers and others, which could, in turn, materially and adversely affect Optum's financial results.

Our investment portfolio may suffer losses, which could materially and adversely affect our results of operations, financial position and cash flows.

Market fluctuations could impair our profitability and capital position. Volatility in interest rates affects our interest income and the market value of our investments in debt securities of varying maturities, which comprise the vast majority of the fair value of our investments as of December 31, 2011. Relatively low interest rates on investments, such as those experienced during recent years, have adversely impacted our investment income, and a prolonged low interest rate environment could further

adversely affect our investment income. In addition, a delay in payment of principal and/or interest by issuers, or defaults by issuers (primarily from investments in corporate and municipal bonds), could reduce our net investment income and we may be required to write down the value of our investments, which would materially and adversely affect our profitability and shareholders' equity.

We also allocate a small proportion of our portfolio to equity investments, which are subject to greater volatility than fixed income investments. General economic conditions, stock market conditions, and many other factors beyond our control can materially and adversely affect the value of our equity investments and may result in investment losses.

There can be no assurance that our investments will produce total positive returns or that we will not sell investments at prices that are less than their carrying values. Changes in the value of our investment assets, as a result of interest rate fluctuations, changes in issuer financial conditions, illiquidity or otherwise, could have an adverse effect on our shareholders' equity. In addition, if it became necessary for us to liquidate our investment portfolio on an accelerated basis, it could have a material adverse effect on our results of operations and the capital position of regulated subsidiaries.

If the value of our intangible assets is materially impaired, our results of operations, shareholders' equity and debt ratings could be materially and adversely affected.

Goodwill and other intangible assets were $26.8 billion as of December 31, 2011, representing 39% of our total assets. We periodically evaluate our goodwill and other intangible assets to determine whether all or a portion of their carrying values may be impaired, in which case a charge to earnings may be necessary. For example, the manner in or the extent to which the Health Reform Legislation is implemented may impact our ability to maintain the value of our goodwill and other intangible assets in our business. Similarly, the value of our goodwill may be materially and adversely impacted if businesses that we acquire perform in a manner that is inconsistent with our assumptions. In addition, from time to time we divest businesses, and any such divestiture could result in significant asset impairment and disposition charges, including those related to goodwill and other intangible assets. Any future evaluations requiring an impairment of our goodwill and other intangible assets could materially and adversely affect our results of operations and shareholders' equity in the period in which the impairment occurs. A material decrease in shareholders' equity could, in turn, adversely impact our debt ratings or potentially impact our compliance with existing debt covenants.

Large-scale medical emergencies may result in significant medical costs and may have a material adverse effect on our results of operations, financial position and cash flows.

Large-scale medical emergencies can take many forms and can cause widespread illness and death. Such emergencies could materially and adversely affect the U.S. economy in general and the health care industry specifically. For example, in the event of a natural disaster, bioterrorism attack, pandemic or other extreme events, we could face, among other things, significant medical costs and increased use of health care services. Any such disaster or similar event could have a material adverse effect on our results of operations, financial position and cash flows.

If we fail to properly maintain the integrity or availability of our data or to strategically implement new or upgrade or consolidate existing information systems, or if our technology products do not operate as intended, our business could be materially and adversely affected.

Our ability to adequately price our products and services, to provide effective service to our customers in an efficient and uninterrupted fashion, and to accurately report our results of operations depends on the integrity of the data in our information systems. As a result of technology initiatives and recently enacted regulations, changes in our system platforms and integration of new business acquisitions, we have been consolidating and integrating the number of systems we operate and have upgraded and expanded our information systems capabilities. Our information systems require an ongoing commitment of significant resources to maintain, protect and enhance existing systems and develop new systems to keep pace with continuing changes in information processing technology, evolving systems and regulatory standards, emerging cybersecurity risks and threats, and changing customer patterns. If the information we rely upon to run our businesses was found to be inaccurate or unreliable or if we fail to maintain or protect our information systems and data integrity effectively, we could lose existing customers, have difficulty attracting new customers, have problems in determining medical cost estimates and establishing appropriate pricing, have difficulty preventing, detecting and controlling fraud, have disputes with customers, physicians and other health care professionals, have regulatory sanctions or penalties imposed, have increases in operating expenses or suffer other adverse consequences. There can be no assurance that our process of consolidating the number of systems we operate, upgrading and expanding our information systems capabilities, protecting our systems against cybersecurity risks and threats, enhancing our systems and developing new systems to keep pace with continuing changes in information processing technology will be successful or that additional systems issues will not arise in the future. Failure to protect, consolidate and integrate our systems successfully could result in higher than expected costs and diversion of management's time and energy, which could materially and adversely affect our results of operations, financial position and cash flows.

Certain of our businesses sell and install hardware and software products, and these products may contain unexpected design

defects or may encounter unexpected complications during installation or when used with other technologies utilized by the customer. Connectivity among competing technologies is becoming increasingly important in the health care industry. A failure of our technology products to operate as intended and in a seamless fashion with other products could materially and adversely affect our results of operations, financial position and cash flows.

In addition, an uncertain and rapidly evolving federal, state, international and industry legislative and regulatory framework related to the health information technology market may make it difficult to achieve and maintain compliance and could materially and adversely affect the configuration of our information systems and platforms, and our ability to compete in this market.

If we are not able to protect our proprietary rights to our databases and related products, our ability to market our knowledge and information-related businesses could be hindered and our results of operations, financial position and cash flows could be materially and adversely affected.

We rely on our agreements with customers, confidentiality agreements with employees, and our trademarks, trade secrets, copyrights and patents to protect our proprietary rights. These legal protections and precautions may not prevent misappropriation of our proprietary information. In addition, substantial litigation regarding intellectual property rights exists in the software industry, and we expect software products to be increasingly subject to third-party infringement claims as the number of products and competitors in this industry segment grows. Such litigation and misappropriation of our proprietary information could hinder our ability to market and sell products and services and our results of operations, financial position and cash flows could be materially and adversely affected.

Our ability to obtain funds from some of our subsidiaries is restricted and if we are unable to obtain sufficient funds from our subsidiaries to fund our obligations, our results of operations and financial position could be materially and adversely affected.

Because we operate as a holding company, we are dependent upon dividends and administrative expense reimbursements from some of our subsidiaries to fund our obligations. Many of these subsidiaries are regulated by states' departments of insurance. We are also required by law or regulation to maintain specific prescribed minimum amounts of capital in these subsidiaries. The levels of capitalization required depend primarily upon the volume of premium revenues generated by the applicable subsidiary. A significant increase in premium volume will require additional capitalization from us. In most states, we are required to seek prior approval by these state regulatory authorities before we transfer money or pay dividends from these subsidiaries that exceed specified amounts. An inability of our regulated subsidiaries to pay dividends to their parent companies in the desired amounts or at the time of our choosing could adversely affect our ability to reinvest in our business through capital expenditures or business acquisitions, as well as our ability to maintain our corporate quarterly dividend payment cycle, repurchase shares of our common stock and repay our debt. If we are unable to obtain sufficient funds from our subsidiaries to fund our obligations, our results of operations and financial position could be materially and adversely affected.

Any failure by us to manage and complete acquisitions and other significant strategic transactions successfully could materially and adversely affect our business, prospects, results of operations, financial position and cash flows.

As part of our business strategy, we frequently engage in discussions with third parties regarding possible investments, acquisitions, divestitures, strategic alliances, joint ventures, and outsourcing transactions and often enter into agreements relating to such transactions. If we fail to identify and complete successfully transactions that further our strategic objectives, we may be required to expend resources to develop products and technology internally, we may be at a competitive disadvantage or we may be adversely affected by negative market perceptions, any of which may have a material adverse effect on our results of operations, financial position or cash flows. For acquisitions, success is also dependent upon efficiently integrating the acquired business into our existing operations. We are required to integrate these businesses into our internal control environment, which may present challenges that are different than those presented by organic growth and that may be difficult to manage. If we are unable to successfully integrate and grow these acquisitions and to realize contemplated revenue synergies and cost savings, our business, prospects, results of operations, financial position and cash flows could be materially and adversely affected.

Downgrades in our credit ratings, should they occur, may adversely affect our business, financial condition and results of operations.

Claims paying ability, financial strength, and credit ratings by nationally recognized statistical rating organizations are important factors in establishing the competitive position of insurance companies. Ratings information is broadly disseminated and generally used throughout the industry. We believe our claims paying ability and financial strength ratings are important factors in marketing our products to certain of our customers. Our credit ratings impact both the cost and availability of future borrowings. Each of the credit rating agencies reviews its ratings periodically and there can be no assurance that current credit ratings will be maintained in the future. Our ratings reflect each credit rating agency's opinion of our financial strength, operating performance and ability to meet our debt obligations or obligations to policyholders. Downgrades in our credit

ratings, should they occur, may adversely affect our results of operations, financial position and cash flows.

ITEM 1B.    UNRESOLVED STAFF COMMENTS

None.

To support our business operations in the United States and other countries, as of December 31, 2011, we owned and/or leased real properties totaling approximately 16 million square feet, owning approximately 1 million aggregate square feet of space and leasing the remainder, primarily in the United States. Our leases expire at various dates through September 2028. Our various reporting segments use these facilities for their respective business purposes, and we believe these current facilities are suitable for their respective uses and are adequate for our anticipated future needs.

ITEM 3.    LEGAL PROCEEDINGS

See Note 12 of Notes to the Consolidated Financial Statements in this Form 10-K, which is incorporated by reference in this report.

N/A

PART II

MARKET PRICES

Our common stock is traded on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) under the symbol UNH. On January 31, 2012, there were 15,978 registered holders of record of our common stock. The per share high and low common stock sales prices reported by the NYSE were as follows:

DIVIDEND POLICY

In May 2011 , our Board of Directors increased our cash dividend to shareholders to an annual dividend rate of $0.65 per share, paid quarterly. Since June 2010 , we had paid a quarterly dividend of $ 0.125 per share. Declaration and payment of future quarterly dividends is at the discretion of the Board and may be adjusted as business needs or market conditions change.

ISSUER PURCHASES OF EQUITY SECURITIES

Issuer Purchases of Equity Securities (a)

Fourth Quarter 2011

PERFORMANCE GRAPHS

The following two performance graphs compare our total return to shareholders with the returns of indexes of other specified companies and the S&P 500 Index. The first graph compares the cumulative five-year total return to shareholders on our common stock relative to the cumulative total returns of the S&P 500 index and a customized peer group of certain Fortune 50 companies (the " Fortune 50 Group"), for the five-year period ended December 31, 2011 . The second graph compares our cumulative total return to shareholders with the S&P 500 Index and an index of a group of peer companies selected by us for the five-year period ended December 31, 2011 . We are not included in either the Fortune 50 Group index in the first graph or the peer group index in the second graph. In calculating the cumulative total shareholder return of the indexes, the shareholder returns of the Fortune 50 Group companies in the first graph and the peer group companies in the second graph are weighted according to the stock market capitalizations of the companies at January 1 of each year. The comparisons assume the investment of $100 on December 31, 2006 in our common stock and in each index, and that dividends were reinvested when paid.

Fortune 50 Group

The Fortune 50 Group consists of the following companies: American International Group, Inc., Berkshire Hathaway Inc., Cardinal Health, Inc., Citigroup Inc., General Electric Company, International Business Machines Corporation and Johnson & Johnson. Although there are differences in terms of size and industry, like UnitedHealth Group, all of these companies are large multi-segment companies using a well-defined operating model in one or more broad sectors of the economy.

Among UnitedHealth Group, the S&P 500 Index, and Fortune 50

The stock price performance included in this graph is not necessarily indicative of future stock price performance.

Peer Group

The companies included in our peer group are Aetna Inc., Cigna Corporation, Coventry Health Care, Inc., Humana Inc. and WellPoint, Inc. We believe that this peer group reflects publicly traded peers to our UnitedHealthcare businesses.

Among UnitedHealth Group, the S&P 500 Index, and a Peer Group

The stock price performance included in this graph is not necessarily indicative of future stock price performance.

FINANCIAL HIGHLIGHTS

Financial Highlights should be read with the accompanying Management's Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations and Consolidated Financial Statements and Notes to the Consolidated Financial Statements.

The following discussion should be read together with the accompanying Consolidated Financial Statements and Notes to the Consolidated Financial Statements thereto. Readers are cautioned that the statements, estimates, projections or outlook contained in this report, including discussions regarding financial prospects, economic conditions, trends and uncertainties contained in this Item 7, may constitute forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995, or PSLRA. These forward-looking statements involve risks and uncertainties that may cause our actual results to differ materially from the results discussed in the forward-looking statements. A description of some of the risks and uncertainties can be found in Item 1A, "Risk Factors."

EXECUTIVE OVERVIEW

General

UnitedHealth Group is a diversified health and well-being company, whose mission is to help people live healthier lives and help make health care work better. Through our diversified family of businesses, we leverage core competencies in advanced, enabling technology; health care data, information and intelligence; and care management and coordination to help meet the demands of the health system. These core competencies are deployed within our two distinct, but strategically aligned, business platforms: health benefits operating under UnitedHealthcare and health services operating under Optum.

UnitedHealthcare serves the health benefits needs of individuals across life's stages through three businesses. UnitedHealthcare Employer & Individual serves individual consumers and employers. The unique health needs of seniors are served by UnitedHealthcare Medicare & Retirement. UnitedHealthcare Community & State serves the public health marketplace, offering states innovative Medicaid solutions.

Optum serves health system participants including consumers, physicians, hospitals, governments, insurers, distributors and pharmaceutical companies, through its OptumHealth, OptumInsight and OptumRx businesses.

Revenues

Our revenues are primarily comprised of premiums derived from risk-based health insurance arrangements in which the premium is typically at a fixed rate per individual served for a one-year period, and we assume the economic risk of funding our customers' health care benefits and related administrative costs. Effective in 2011, commercial health plans with medical loss ratios on fully insured products, as calculated under the definitions in the Health Reform Legislation and implementing regulations, that fall below certain targets (85% for large employer groups, 80% for small employer groups and 80% for individuals, subject to state-specific exceptions) are required to rebate ratable portions of their premiums annually. As a result, our quarterly premium revenue may be reduced by a pro rata estimate of our full-year premium rebate payable under the Health Reform Legislation. Any required rebate payments for the current year are made in the third quarter of the subsequent year. We also generate revenues from fee-based services performed for customers that self-insure the health care costs of their employees and employees' dependants. For both risk-based and fee-based health care benefit arrangements, we provide coordination and facilitation of medical services; transaction processing; health care professional services; and access to contracted networks of physicians, hospitals and other health care professionals. We also generate service revenues from our Optum businesses. Product revenues are mainly comprised of products sold by our pharmacy benefit management business. We derive investment income primarily from interest earned on our investments in debt securities; investment income also includes gains or losses when investment securities are sold, or other-than-temporarily impaired.

Operating Costs

Medical Costs. Our operating results depend in large part on our ability to effectively estimate, price for and manage our medical costs through underwriting criteria, product design, negotiation of favorable care provider contracts and care coordination programs. Controlling medical costs requires a comprehensive and integrated approach to organize and advance the full range of interrelationships among patients/consumers, health professionals, hospitals, pharmaceutical/technology manufacturers and other key stakeholders.

Medical costs include estimates of our obligations for medical care services rendered on behalf of insured consumers for which we have not yet received or processed claims, and our estimates for physician, hospital and other medical cost disputes. In every reporting period, our operating results include the effects of more completely developed medical costs payable estimates associated with previously reported periods.

Our medical care ratio, calculated as medical costs as a percentage of premium revenues, reflects the combination of pricing, rebates, benefit designs, consumer health care utilization and comprehensive care facilitation efforts.

Operating Costs. Operating costs are primarily comprised of costs related to employee compensation and benefits, agent and broker commissions, premium taxes and assessments, professional fees, advertising and occupancy costs. We seek to improve our operating cost ratio, calculated as operating costs as a percentage of total revenues, for an equivalent mix of business. However, changes in business mix, such as increases in the size of our health services businesses may impact our operating costs and operating cost ratio.

Cash Flows

We generate cash primarily from premiums, service and product revenues and investment income, as well as proceeds from the sale or maturity of our investments. Our primary uses of cash are for payments of medical claims and operating costs, payments on debt, purchases of investments, acquisitions, dividends to shareholders and common stock repurchases. For more information on our cash flows, see "Liquidity" below.

Business Trends

Our businesses participate in the U.S. health economy, which comprises approximately 18% of U.S. gross domestic product and has grown consistently for many years. We expect overall spending on health care in the U.S. to continue to grow in the future, due to inflation, medical technology and pharmaceutical advancement, regulatory requirements, demographic trends in the U.S. population and national interest in health and well-being. The rate of market growth may be affected by a variety of factors, including macro-economic conditions and enacted health care reforms, which could also impact our results of

operations.

In 2012, we expect increasing unit costs to continue to be the primary cost driver of medical cost trends and we project steadily increasing medical system utilization over the course of the year. We also expect an increase in prescription drug costs. We will continue to work to manage medical cost trends through care management programs, affordable network relationships, pay-for-performance reimbursement programs for care providers, and targeted clinical management programs and initiatives focused on improving quality and affordability. Additionally, employers are continuing to select products with benefit designs that shift more of the costs to the employee. This cost shifting continues to mitigate increases in medical cost trends.

Our businesses focus on affordability, consumer empowerment, wellness and prevention, payment innovations, and enhanced distribution to better serve our customer and consumer needs and demands. These business objectives are consistent with the goals of health care reform. We expect that the portion of our costs that is tied to incentive contracts that reward providers for outcome-based results and improved cost efficiencies will continue to increase. Care providers are facing market pressures to change from fee-for-service models to new delivery models focused on the holistic health of the consumer, integrated care across care providers and pay-for-performance payment structures. This is creating the need for health management services that can coordinate care around the primary care physician and for investment in new clinical and administrative information and management systems. The impact of such changes on our results of operations is uncertain but, we expect them to moderate the rate at which medical costs increase. This trend also provides growth opportunities for our OptumHealth and OptumInsight businesses.

We attempt to price our products consistent with anticipated underlying medical trends, while balancing growth, margins, competitive dynamics and premium rebates at the local market level. We seek to sustain a stable medical care ratio for an equivalent mix of business. However, changes in business mix, such as expanding participation in comparatively higher medical care ratio government-sponsored public sector programs and Health Reform Legislation may impact our premiums, medical costs and medical care ratio. In 2012, we continue to expect reimbursements to be under pressure through government payment rates and continued market competition in commercial products.

Regulatory Trends and Uncertainties

In the first quarter of 2010, the Health Reform Legislation was signed into law. The Health Reform Legislation expands access to coverage and modifies aspects of the commercial insurance market, the Medicaid and Medicare programs, CHIP and other aspects of the health care system. HHS, the DOL, the IRS and the Treasury Department have issued or proposed regulations on a number of aspects of Health Reform Legislation, but final rules and interim guidance on other key aspects of the legislation, all of which have a variety of effective dates, remain pending.

The Health Reform Legislation and the related federal and state regulations will impact how we do business and could restrict growth and restrict premium rate increases in certain products and market segments, increase our medical and administrative costs, or expose us to an increased risk of liability, any or all of which could have a material adverse effect on us.

We also anticipate that the Health Reform Legislation will further increase attention on the need for health care cost containment and improvements in quality, with a focus on prevention, wellness and disease management. We believe demand for many of our service offerings, such as consulting services, data management, information technology and related infrastructure construction, disease management, and population-based health and wellness programs will continue to grow.

Following is a listing of some of the key provisions of the Health Reform Legislation and other regulatory items along with management's view of the related trends and uncertainties that may cause reported financial information to not be indicative of future operating performance or of future financial condition.

Premium Rebates

Effective in 2011, commercial health plans with medical loss ratios on fully insured products that fall below certain targets are required to rebate ratable portions of their premiums annually. The potential for and size of the rebates are measured by state, by group size and by licensed subsidiary.

In the aggregate, the rebate regulations cap the level of margin that can be attained.

The disaggregation of insurance pools into smaller pools will likely decrease the predictability of results for any given pool and could lead to variation over time in the estimates of rebates owed.

Other market participants could implement changes to their business practices in response to the Health Reform Legislation, which could positively or negatively impact our growth and market share. Insurers could elect to change pricing, modify product features or benefits, adjust their mix of business or even exit segments of the market. They could also seek to adjust

their operating costs by making changes to their distribution arrangements or decreasing spending on non-medical product features and services. We have made changes to reduce our product distribution costs in the individual market in response to the Health Reform Legislation, including reducing producer commissions, and are implementing changes to distribution in the large group insured market segment. These changes could impact future growth in these products.

Commercial Rate Increase Review

The Health Reform Legislation also requires HHS to maintain an annual review of "unreasonable" increases in premium rates for commercial health plans. HHS established a review threshold of annual premium rate increases generally at or above 10% (with state-specific thresholds to be applicable commencing September 2012), and clarified that the HHS review will not supersede existing state review and approval processes. The regulations further require commercial health plans to provide to the states and HHS extensive information supporting any rate increase of 10% (or applicable state threshold) or more. Under the regulations, the HHS rate review process would apply only to health plans in the individual and small group markets.

The Federal government is also encouraging states to intensify their reviews of requests for rate increases by affected commercial health plans (including large group plans) and providing funding to assist in those state-level reviews. Since August 2010, HHS has allocated approximately $250 million for grants to states to enable the states to conduct more robust reviews of requests for premium increases. Many states have applied for and received grants, and state regulators have signaled their intent to more closely scrutinize premium rates.

Premium rate review legislation (ranging from new or enhanced rate filing requirements to prior approval requirements) has been introduced or passed in more than half of the states in 2011. As a result, we have begun to experience greater regulatory challenges to appropriate premium rate increases in several states, including California, New York and Rhode Island. Depending on the level of scrutiny by the states, there is a broad range of potential business impacts. For example, it may become more difficult to price our commercial risk business consistent with expected underlying cost trends, leading to the risk of operating margin compression.

Medicare Advantage Rates

As part of the Health Reform Legislation, Medicare Advantage risk adjusted benchmarks, which ultimately drive our CMS payments, were reduced by 1.6% in 2011 from 2010 levels. Beginning in 2012, additional cuts to Medicare Advantage benchmarks have taken effect (benchmarks will ultimately range from 95% of Medicare fee-for-service rates in high cost areas to 115% in low cost areas), with changes being phased-in over two to six years, depending on the level of benchmark reduction in a county. These changes could result in reduced enrollment or reimbursement or payment levels.

We expect the 2012 rates will be outpaced by underlying medical trends, placing continued importance on effective medical management and ongoing improvements in administrative costs. There are a number of annual adjustments we can make to our operations, which may partially offset any impact from these rate reductions. For example, we can seek to intensify our medical and operating cost management, adjust members' benefits and decide on a county-by-county basis in which geographies to participate.

Additionally, achieving high quality scores from CMS for improving upon certain clinical and operational performance standards will impact future quality bonuses that may offset these anticipated rate reductions. We also may be able to mitigate the effects of reduced funding on margins by increasing enrollment due to the increases in the number of people eligible for Medicare in coming years. Longer term, market wide decreases in the availability or relative quality of Medicare Advantage products may increase demand for other senior health benefits products such as our Medicare Part D and Medicare Supplement insurance offerings.

It is also anticipated that CMS will release the final Medicare Advantage Risk Adjustment Data Validation (RADV) audit methodology in 2012. RADV audits are intended to validate that the risk-adjusted payments Medicare Advantage plans receive are supported by medical record data. Depending upon the final RADV methodology released by CMS, recoveries from RADV audits may result in additional rate pressure.

Budget Control Act's Medicare Sequestration

Congress passed the Budget Control Act of 2011, which, following the failure of the Joint Select Committee on Deficit Reduction to cut the federal deficit by $1.2 trillion, triggers automatic across-the-board budget cuts (sequestration), including Medicare spending cuts averaging 2% of total program costs for nine years, starting in 2013. Medicare payments exempted from sequestration include:

The Office of Management and Budget is responsible for determining, calculating and implementing cuts. We are exploring strategies to mitigate any impact that may result from the cuts beginning in 2013.

Insurance Industry Fee

The Health Reform Legislation includes an annual insurance industry assessment ($8 billion levied on the insurance industry in 2014 with increasing annual amounts thereafter). The annual fee will be allocated based on the ratio of an entity's net premiums written during the preceding calendar year to the total health insurance for any U.S. health risk that is written during the preceding calendar year, subject to certain exceptions and uncertainties.

Our effective income tax rate will increase significantly in 2014 due to the non-deductibility of these fees.

Premium increases will be necessary to offset the impact of these and other provisions. Premium increases are generally subject to state regulatory approval and potentially to federal review. Other market participants could increase premiums at different levels which could impact our market share positively or negatively.

State-based Exchanges and Coverage Expansion

Effective in 2014, exchanges are required to be established for individuals and small employers as well as certain CHIP eligibles. The exchanges will be state-based. If a state fails to establish an exchange by the required deadline, exchanges may be administered through a federal/state partnership or by the federal government.

Among other things, the Health Reform Legislation eliminates pre-existing condition exclusions and annual and lifetime maximum limits and restricts the extent to which policies can be rescinded. The Health Reform Legislation also provides for expanded Medicaid coverage effective in January 2014. The Health Reform Legislation includes an MOE provision that requires states to maintain their eligibility rules for people covered by Medicaid, until the Secretary of HHS determines that an insurance exchange is operational in a given state. The MOE provision is intended to prevent states from reducing eligibility standards and determination procedures as a way to remove adults above 133% of the federal poverty level from Medicaid before implementation of expanded Medicaid coverage effective in January 2014. However, states with, or projecting, a budget deficit may apply for an exception to the MOE provision. Additionally, individual states may accelerate their procurement of Medicaid managed care services in 2012 and 2013 for sizeable groups of Medicaid program beneficiaries in order to even their administrative workloads in advance of Medicaid market expansion taking place in 2014.

The Congressional Budget Office has estimated that up to 34 million additional individuals may eventually gain insurance coverage if the Health Reform Legislation is implemented broadly in its current form. This represents an opportunity for us to increase membership. However, serving these individuals may generate different profit margins than our existing business due to various factors, including the health status of the newly insured individuals.

We expect existing participants in Medicare and Medicaid and new enrollees in state-based exchanges to transition between products and programs, offering us opportunities to design products and services that enable us to compete for new business across business segments on an ongoing basis. An acceleration of Medicaid managed care services could increase near-term business growth opportunities for UnitedHealthcare Community & State. However, if states are successful in obtaining MOE waivers and allow certain Medicaid programs to expire, we could experience reduced Medicaid enrollment.

Court Proceedings

Court proceedings related to the Health Reform Legislation continue to evolve. These court proceedings, and the potential for Congressional action to impede implementation, create additional uncertainties with respect to the law. For additional information regarding the Health Reform Legislation, see Item 1, "Business - Government Regulation" and Item 1A, "Risk Factors."

SELECTED OPERATING PERFORMANCE AND FINANCIAL LIQUIDITY ITEMS

The following represents a summary of selected 2011 operating and liquidity items. These matters should not be considered by themselves; see below for further discussion and analysis.

2011 RESULTS OF OPERATIONS COMPARED TO 2010 RESULTS

Consolidated Financial Results

Revenues

The increases in revenues for the year ended December 31, 2011 were driven by strong organic growth in the number of individuals served in our UnitedHealthcare businesses, commercial premium rate increases reflecting underlying medical cost trends and revenue growth across all Optum businesses.

Medical Costs

Medical costs for the year ended December 31, 2011 increased due to risk-based membership growth in our commercial and public and senior markets businesses and continued increases in the cost per service paid for health system use, and a modest increase in health system utilization, mainly in outpatient and physician office settings. Unit cost increases represented the majority of the increases in our medical cost trend, with the largest contributor being price increases to hospitals.

For each period, our operating results include the effects of revisions in medical cost estimates related to prior periods. Changes in medical cost estimates related to prior periods, resulting from more complete claim information identified in the current period, are included in total medical costs reported for the current period. For 2011 and 2010 there was $720 million and $800 million , respectively, of net favorable medical cost development related to prior fiscal years. The favorable development in both periods was primarily driven by continued improvements in claims submission timeliness, which resulted in higher completion factors and lower than expected health system utilization levels. The favorable development in 2010 also benefited from a reduction in reserves needed for disputed claims from care providers; and favorable resolution of certain state-based assessments.

Operating Costs

The increase in our operating costs for the year ended December 31, 2011 was due to business growth, including an increased mix of Optum and UnitedHealthcare fee-based and service revenues, which have higher operating costs, and increased spending related to reform readiness and compliance. These factors were partially offset by overall operating cost management and the increase in 2010 operating costs due to the goodwill impairment and charges for a business line disposition of certain i3-branded clinical trial service businesses. See Note 6 of Notes to the Consolidated Financial Statements for further detail on the goodwill impairment.

Income Tax Rate

The effective income tax rate for the year ended December 31, 2011 decreased compared to the prior year due to favorable resolution of various historical tax matters in the current year as well as a higher effective income tax rate in 2010, due to the cumulative implementation of certain changes under the Health Reform Legislation.

Reportable Segments

Our two business platforms, UnitedHealthcare and Optum, are comprised of four reportable segments:

See Note 13 of Notes to the Consolidated Financial Statements for a description of the types and services from which each of our reportable segments derives its revenues.

Transactions between reportable segments principally consist of sales of pharmacy benefit products and services to UnitedHealthcare customers by OptumRx, certain product offerings and clinical services sold to UnitedHealthcare by OptumHealth, and health information and technology solutions, consulting and other services sold to UnitedHealthcare by OptumInsight. These transactions are recorded at management's estimate of fair value. Intersegment transactions are eliminated in consolidation.

On January 1, 2011, we realigned certain of our businesses to respond to changes in the markets we serve. Prior period segment financial information has been recast to conform to the 2011 presentation. See Note 2 of Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements for more information on our business realignment. The following table presents reportable segment financial information:

nm = not meaningful

UnitedHealthcare

The following table summarizes UnitedHealthcare revenue by business:

The following table summarizes the number of individuals served by our UnitedHealthcare businesses, by major market segment and funding arrangement:

UnitedHealthcare's revenue growth for the year ended December 31, 2011 was due to growth in the number of individuals served across our businesses and commercial premium rate increases reflecting expected underlying medical cost trends.

UnitedHealthcare's earnings from operations for the year ended December 31, 2011 increased compared to the prior year as revenue growth and improvements in the operating cost ratio more than offset increased compliance costs and an increase to the medical care ratio, which was primarily due to the initiation of premium rebate obligations in 2011, and lower favorable reserve development levels.

In our Medicare Part D stand-alone business, we estimate that we entered January 2012 down approximately 625,000 people, primarily as a result of the loss of approximately 470,000 of our auto-assigned low-income subsidy Medicare Part D beneficiaries in a number of regions being automatically reassigned to other plans as part of the annual bid process managed by CMS. We believe that we will grow from this level throughout the course of the year in the open retail market.

In February 2012, we added 117,000 Medicare Advantage members from the acquisition of XLHealth Corporation.

Optum. Total revenue for these businesses increased in 2011 due to business growth and acquisitions at OptumHealth and OptumInsight and growth in customers served through pharmaceutical benefit management programs at OptumRx.

Optum's operating margin for the year ended December 31, 2011 was down compared to 2010. The decrease was due to changes in business mix within Optum's businesses and realignment of certain internal business arrangements.

The results by segment were as follows:

OptumHealth

Increased revenues at OptumHealth for the year ended December 31, 2011 were primarily due to expansions in service offerings through acquisitions in clinical services, as well as growth in consumer and population health management offerings. 

Earnings from operations for the year ended December 31, 2011 and operating margin decreased compared to 2010. The decreases reflect the impact from internal business and service arrangement realignments and the mix effect of growth and expansion in newer businesses such as clinical services.

OptumInsight

Increased revenues at OptumInsight for the year ended December 31, 2011 were due to the impact of organic growth and the full-year impact of 2010 acquisitions, which were partially offset by the divestiture of the clinical trials services business in June 2011.

The increases in earnings from operations and operating margins for the year ended December 31, 2011 reflect an increased mix of higher margin services in 2011 as well as the effect on 2010 earnings from operations and operating margin of the goodwill impairment and charges for a business line disposition of certain i3-branded clinical trial service businesses. See Note 6 of Notes to the Consolidated Financial Statements for further detail on the goodwill impairment.

OptumRx

The increase in OptumRx revenues for the year ended December 31, 2011 was due to increased prescription volumes, primarily due to growth in customers served through Medicare Part D prescription drug plans by our UnitedHealthcare Medicare & Retirement business, and a favorable mix of higher revenue specialty drug prescriptions. Intersegment revenues eliminated in consolidation were $16.7 billion and $14.4 billion for the years ended December 31, 2011 and 2010 , respectively.

OptumRx earnings from operations and operating margins for 2011 decreased as the mix of lower margin specialty pharmaceuticals and Medicaid business and investments to support growth initiatives including the in-sourcing of our commercial pharmacy benefit programs more than offset the earnings contribution from higher revenues and greater use of generic medications.

We will consolidate and manage the majority of our commercial pharmacy benefit programs internally when our contract with Medco Health Solutions, Inc. expires at the end of 2012. The investments in our infrastructure and to expand our capacity will likely cause a decrease in earnings from operations and operating margin as in 2012, OptumRx expects to absorb approximately $115 million of the $150 million consolidated in-sourcing related operating costs. As a result of this transition, OptumRx expects to add 12 million members on a staged basis in 2013. See Item 1A, "Risk Factors" for a discussion of certain risks associated with the transition of our commercial pharmacy benefit programs to OptumRx.

2010 RESULTS OF OPERATIONS COMPARED TO 2009 RESULTS

Consolidated Financial Results

Revenues

The increases in revenues for 2010 were primarily due to strong organic growth in risk-based benefit offerings in our public and senior markets businesses and commercial premium rate increases reflecting underlying medical cost trends. Growth in customers served by our health services businesses, particularly through pharmaceutical benefit management programs, increased revenues from public sector behavioral health programs and increased sales of health care technology software and services also contributed to our revenue growth.

Medical Costs and Medical Care Ratio

Medical costs for 2010 increased primarily due to growth in our public and senior markets risk-based businesses and medical cost inflation, which were partially offset by net favorable development of prior period medical costs.

For 2010 and 2009, there was $800 million and $310 million, respectively, of net favorable medical cost development related to prior fiscal years.

The medical care ratio decreased due to a moderation in overall demand for medical services, successful clinical engagement and management and the increase in prior period favorable development discussed previously.

Operating Costs

Operating costs for 2010 increased due to acquired and organic growth in health services businesses, which are generally more operating cost intensive than our benefits businesses, goodwill impairment and charges for a business line disposition at OptumInsight, which is discussed in more detail below, an increase in staffing and selling expenses primarily due to the change in the Medicare Advantage annual enrollment period, costs related to increased employee headcount and compensation, increased advertising costs, and the absorption of new business development and start-up costs.

Income Tax Rate

The increase in our effective income tax rate for 2010 as compared to 2009 resulted from a benefit in the 2009 tax rate from the resolution of various historical state income tax matters and an increase in the 2010 rate related to limitations on the future deductibility of certain compensation due to the Health Reform Legislation.

Reportable Segments

UnitedHealthcare

The revenue growth in UnitedHealthcare for 2010 was primarily due to growth in the number of individuals served by our public and senior markets businesses and commercial premium rate increases reflecting underlying medical cost trends, partially offset by Medicare Advantage premium rate decreases.

UnitedHealthcare earnings from operations and operating margins for 2010 increased over the prior year due to factors that increased revenues described above, continued cost management disciplines on behalf of our commercial and governmental

customers, a general moderation in year-over-year growth in demand for medical services and the effect of increased net favorable development in prior period medical costs.

OptumHealth

Increased revenues in OptumHealth for 2010 were primarily driven by new business development in large scale public sector programs and increased sales of benefits and services to external employer markets.

The operating margin for 2010 decreased due to growth in lower margin public sector business, new market development and startup costs and costs related to the implementation of the federal Mental Health Parity & Addiction Equity Act of 2008.

OptumInsight

Increased revenues in OptumInsight for 2010 were primarily due to the impact of acquisitions and growth in health information technology offerings and services focused on cost and data management and regulatory compliance.

The decrease in operating margin for 2010 was primarily due to a goodwill impairment and charges for a business line disposition of certain i3-branded clinical trial service businesses. In addition, increases in the mix of lower margin business, continued margin pressure in the pharmaceutical services business and continued investments in new growth areas also contributed to the decrease in operating margin in 2010. See Note 6 of Notes to the Consolidated Financial Statements for further detail on the goodwill impairment.

OptumRx

The increased OptumRx revenues for 2010 were primarily due to growth in customers served through Medicare Part D prescription drug plans by our UnitedHealthcare Medicare & Retirement business and higher prescription volumes. Intersegment revenues eliminated in consolidation were $14.4 billion and $12.5 billion for 2010 and 2009, respectively.

OptumRx operating margin for 2010 decreased due to changes in performance-based pricing contracts with Medicare Part D plan sponsors, which were partially offset by prescription volume growth, increased usage of mail service and generic drugs by consumers and effective operating cost management.

LIQUIDITY, FINANCIAL CONDITION AND CAPITAL RESOURCES

Liquidity

Introduction

We manage our liquidity and financial position in the context of our overall business strategy. We continually forecast and manage our cash, investments, working capital balances and capital structure to meet the short- and long-term obligations of our businesses while seeking to maintain liquidity and financial flexibility. Cash flows generated from operating activities are principally from earnings before non-cash expenses. The risk of decreased operating cash flow from a decline in earnings is partially mitigated by the diversity of our businesses, geographies and customers; our disciplined underwriting and pricing processes for our risk-based businesses; and continued productivity improvements that lower our operating costs.

Our regulated subsidiaries generate significant cash flows from operations. A majority of the assets held by our regulated subsidiaries are in the form of cash, cash equivalents and investments. After considering expected cash flows from operating activities, we generally invest cash of regulated subsidiaries that exceeds our expected short-term obligations in longer term, liquid, investment-grade, debt securities to improve our overall investment return. We make these investments pursuant to our Board of Directors' approved investment policy, which focuses on preservation of capital through risk tolerances around liquidity, credit quality, issuer limits, asset class diversification, income and duration. The policy emphasizes investment grade bonds with durations that are short to intermediate term in nature. The policy also generally governs return objectives, regulatory limitations and tax implications.

Our regulated subsidiaries are subject to financial regulations and standards in their respective states of domicile. Most of these regulations and standards conform to those established by the NAIC. These standards, among other things, require these subsidiaries to maintain specified levels of statutory capital, as defined by each state, and restrict the timing and amount of dividends and other distributions that may be paid to their parent companies. Except in the case of extraordinary dividends, these standards generally permit dividends to be paid from statutory unassigned surplus of the regulated subsidiary and are limited based on the regulated subsidiary's level of statutory net income and statutory capital and surplus. These dividends are referred to as "ordinary dividends" and generally can be paid without prior regulatory approval. If the dividend, together with other dividends paid within the preceding twelve months, exceeds a specified statutory limit or is paid from sources other than earned surplus, the entire dividend is generally considered an "extraordinary dividend" and must receive prior regulatory approval.

In 2011, based on the 2010 statutory net income and statutory capital and surplus levels, the maximum amount of ordinary dividends which could be paid was $3.4 billion . For the year ended December 31, 2011 , our regulated subsidiaries paid their parent companies dividends of $4.5 billion , including $1.1 billion of extraordinary dividends. For the year ended December 31, 2010 , our regulated subsidiaries paid their parent companies dividends of $3.2 billion , including $686 million of extraordinary dividends.

Our non-regulated businesses also generate cash flows from operations for general corporate use. Cash flows generated by these entities, combined with dividends from our regulated entities and financing through the issuance of long term debt as well as issuance of commercial paper or drawings under our committed credit facility, further strengthen our operating and financial flexibility. We use these cash flows to expand our businesses through acquisitions, reinvest in our businesses through capital expenditures, repay debt, or return capital to our shareholders through shareholder dividends and/or repurchases of our common stock, depending on market conditions.

Summary of our Major Sources and Uses of Cash

2011 Cash Flows Compared to 2010 Cash Flows

Cash flows from operating activities increased $695 million , or 11% , from 2010. The increase was primarily driven by growth in net earnings and changes in various working capital accounts, which were partially offset by a reduction in unearned revenues due to the early receipt of certain 2011 state Medicaid premium payments in 2010, which increased 2010 cash from operating activities. We anticipate lower year over year cash flows from operations in 2012, which will include payments in the third quarter for 2011 premium rebate obligations.

Cash flows used for investing activities decreased $1.2 billion , or 22% , primarily due to relatively lower investments in acquisitions in 2011 and a decrease in net purchases of investments. We anticipate an increase in cash paid for acquisitions in 2012 as compared to 2011.

Cash flows used for financing activities increased $879 million , or 55% , primarily due to increased share repurchases and cash dividends in 2011, partially offset by an increase in net borrowings.

2010 Cash Flows Compared to 2009 Cash Flows

Cash flows from operating activities increased $648 million, or 12%, for 2010. Factors that increased cash flows from operating activities were growth in net earnings, an acceleration of certain 2011 premium payments, and an increase in pharmacy rebate collections, which were partially offset by a mandated acceleration in the claim payment cycle associated with the Medicare Part D program and payment for the settlement of the American Medical Association class action litigation

related to reimbursement for out-of-network medical services.

Cash flows used for investing activities increased $4.4 billion, primarily due to acquisitions completed in 2010, decreases in sales of investments due to a more stable market environment and the use of operating cash to purchase investments.

Cash flows used for financing activities decreased $664 million, or 29%, primarily due to proceeds from the issuance of commercial paper and long-term debt, partially offset by increases in common stock repurchases and cash dividends paid on our common stock.

Financial Condition

As of December 31, 2011 , our cash, cash equivalent and available-for-sale investment balances of $28.0 billion included $9.4 billion of cash and cash equivalents (of which $1.6 billion was held by non-regulated entities), $18.0 billion of debt securities and $544 million of investments in equity securities and venture capital funds. Given the significant portion of our portfolio held in cash equivalents, we do not anticipate fluctuations in the aggregate fair value of our financial assets to have a material impact on our liquidity or capital position. The use of different market assumptions or valuation methodologies, primarily used in valuing our Level 3 securities (those securities priced using significant unobservable inputs), may have an effect on the estimated fair value amounts of our investments. Due to the subjective nature of these assumptions, the estimates may not be indicative of the actual exit price if we had sold the investment at the measurement date. We had $417 million of Level 3 securities as of December 31, 2011 . Other sources of liquidity, primarily from operating cash flows and our commercial paper program, which is supported by our $3.0 billion bank credit facility, reduce the need to sell investments during adverse market conditions. See Note 4 of Notes to the Consolidated Financial Statements for further detail of our fair value measurements.

Our cash equivalent and investment portfolio has a weighted-average duration of 2.1 years and a weighted-average credit rating of "AA" as of December 31, 2011 . Included in the debt securities balance are $2.4 billion of state and municipal obligations that are guaranteed by a number of third parties. Due to the high underlying credit ratings of the issuers, the weighted-average credit rating of these securities both with and without the guarantee is "AA" as of December 31, 2011 . We do not have any significant exposure to any single guarantor (neither indirect through the guarantees, nor direct through investment in the guarantor). When multiple credit ratings are available for an individual security, the average of the available ratings is used to determine the weighted-average credit rating.

Capital Resources and Uses of Liquidity

In addition to cash flow from operations and cash and cash equivalent balances available for general corporate use, our capital resources and uses of liquidity are as follows:

Commercial Paper. We maintain a commercial paper borrowing program, which facilitates the private placement of unsecured debt through third-party broker-dealers. The commercial paper program is supported by the $3.0 billion bank credit facility described below. As of December 31, 2011 , we had no commercial paper outstanding.

Bank Credit Facility . In December 2011 , we amended and renewed our five-year revolving bank credit facility with 21 banks, which will mature in December 2016 . The amendment included increasing the borrowing capacity to $3.0 billion . This facility supports our commercial paper program and is available for general corporate purposes. There were no amounts outstanding under this facility as of December 31, 2011 . The interest rate on borrowings is variable based on term and amount and is calculated based on the LIBOR plus a credit spread based on our senior unsecured credit ratings. As of December 31, 2011 , the annual interest rate on this facility, had it been drawn, would have ranged from 1.2% to 1.7% .

Our bank credit facility contains various covenants, including requiring us to maintain a debt to debt-plus-equity ratio below 50%. Our debt to debt-plus-equity ratio, calculated as the sum of debt divided by the sum of debt and shareholders' equity, was 29.1% and 30.1% as of December 31, 2011 and December 31, 2010 , respectively. We were in compliance with our debt covenants as of  December 31, 2011 .

Long-term debt. Periodically, we access capital markets and issue long-term debt for general corporate purposes and the funds may be used, for example, to meet our working capital requirements, to refinance debt, to finance acquisitions, for share repurchases or for other general corporate purposes.

In November 2011, we issued $1.5 billion in senior unsecured notes. The issuance included $400 million of 1.9% fixed-rate notes due November 2016, $500 million of 3.4% fixed-rate notes due November 2021 and $600 million of 4.6% notes due November 2041.

In February 2011, we issued $750 million in senior unsecured notes. The issuance included $400 million of 4.7% fixed-rate

notes due February 2021 and $350 million of 6.0% fixed-rate notes due February 2041.

Credit Ratings. Our credit ratings at December 31, 2011 were as follows:

The availability of financing in the form of debt or equity is influenced by many factors, including our profitability, operating cash flows, debt levels, credit ratings, debt covenants and other contractual restrictions, regulatory requirements and economic and market conditions. For example, a significant downgrade in our credit ratings or conditions in the capital markets may increase the cost of borrowing for us or limit our access to capital. We have adopted strategies and actions toward maintaining financial flexibility to mitigate the impact of such factors on our ability to raise capital.

Share Repurchases. Under our Board of Directors' authorization, we maintain a common share repurchase program. Repurchases may be made from time to time in open market purchases or other types of transactions (including prepaid or structured repurchase programs), subject to certain preset parameters established by our Board. In May 2011 , our Board renewed our share repurchase program with an authorization to repurchase up to 110 million shares of our common stock. During the year ended December 31, 2011 , we repurchased 65 million shares at an average price of approximately $46 per share and an aggregate cost of $3.0 billion . As of December 31, 2011 , we had Board authorization to purchase up to an additional 65 million  shares of our common stock.

Dividends. In May 2011 , our Board of Directors increased our cash dividend to shareholders to an annual dividend rate of $0.65 per share, paid quarterly. Since June 2010 , we had paid a quarterly dividend of $0.125 per share. Declaration and payment of future quarterly dividends is at the discretion of the Board and may be adjusted as business needs or market conditions change. On February 8, 2012, our Board of Directors approved a quarterly dividend of $0.1625 per share.

The following table provides details of our dividend payments and annual dividend rate: