United Health is 11th most hated company in America

By Mike Mullen Tue., Jul. 12 2011 at 8:02 AM

Stephen Hemsley, CEO, runs the 11th most-hated American company.

United Health, the Minnetonka-based healthcare corporation, is officially among the least popular companies in the country.

The healthcare denier -- oops, healthcare provider -- came in No. 11 on a list of the 19 most hated companies from Business Insider.

The company, infamous for putting CEO and stockholder money above providing for sick people, rated low thanks to its executives' public scandals and its customers' private anger.

UnitedHealth is the lowest-rated healthcare company in the Business Insider's list, which is mostly populated by airlines, cable companies and utilities.

At No. 11, UnitedHealth is just behind privacy-invading juggernaut Facebook. Washington, D.C.-area utility Pepco gets the No. 1 most-hated ranking, followed by Delta Airlines and Time Warner Cable.

As one of UnitedHealth's sins, Business Insider cited complaints by 37 different state government regulators that added up to about $12 million.

Protesters outside Hemsley's house in 2009.

But when the feds came after UH for shady stock dealings in 2007, the numbers were much, much bigger. UnitedHealth CEO Dr. Bill Mcguire paid back more than $600 million in benefits and backdated stock options, on top of the $7 million fine he paid to the SEC. As a whole, UnitedHealth execs returned more than $900 million for crooked stock payouts.

In McGuire's case, he still got to keep around $800 million.

But you don't get that much in the bank without making a few enemies. In June, a West Virginia man sued UnitedHealth, claiming the company had offered to cover his surgery, only to begin sending him bills in the mail months later.

UnitedHealth's 65 out of 100 rating by the American Consumer Satisfaction Index is the lowest in the entire healthcare industry.

All the while, UnitedHealth has been very, very good to its shareholders. Even with the economy struggling to pull out of a recession, UnitedHealth pulled in $1.3 billion in profit in the first quarter of 2011. Whine all you want, you sick little losers. UnitedHealth is rollin' in it.

Previously:

Tags:

health insurance, Stephen Hemsley, United Health

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