Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton is opening an investigation into UnitedHealth Group over reports of “deceptive and unlawful practices” and allegations that the company denied Texans access to healthcare.
The Republican Senate candidate is seeking pre-litigation subpoenas, or Civil Investigative Demands, from the healthcare giant to examine the evidence of whether the company violated Texas’s Deceptive Trade Practices Act or any other regulations. His office points to a report alleging the company paid nursing homes to cut down on hospitalizing patients in need of care.
“Alarming reports keep piling up about how United treats Texas consumers,” Paxton said in a statement. “I will not tolerate any insurance company putting illegal corporate greed over the people of Texas. No Texan should be denied medically necessary care, dragged through endless appeals, or stuck with devastating bills after trusting their insurer’s word.”
Paxton’s office said that in one of the reported cases, a Texan was allegedly initially granted approval for a procedure at an Austin hospital by UnitedHealth Group, but the insurer later withdrew the approval and left the patient with an expensive hospital bill.
“My office will gather the evidence, stand up to this multinational conglomerate, and make sure Texans get the coverage they pay for,” Paxton said.
In a 2025 article by the Guardian that discusses the reported reduction in hospitalizations, UnitedHealth called the report “verifiably false.”
Paxton similarly opened an investigation into Blue Cross Blue Shield of Texas at the end of September, over allegations that the insurance company also denied and delayed urgent and medically necessary care.
UnitedHealth Group has been under the microscope in the U.S. health insurance scene since late 2024, when then-26-year-old Luigi Mangione killed UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson. Mangione pleaded guilty in court to shooting Thompson, telling the court in August, “I understood that my actions would place him in fear of death or bodily injury.”
Mangione had allegedly written, on the bullet casings, the words “deny,” “defend,” and “depose,” which pundits suspect allude to delaying and denying practices of the healthcare industry.
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The Washington Examiner has reached out to UnitedHealth Group for comment on Paxton’s investigation.
Paxton is running for Senate against Democratic Texas state Rep. James Talarico while serving his last year as the state’s attorney general.