This Social Responsibility Report may contain
statements, estimates, projections, guidance or outlook
that constitute “forward-looking” statements as defined
under U.S. federal securities laws. Generally the words
“believe,” “expect,” “intend,” “estimate,” “anticipate,”
“plan,” “project,” “will” and similar expressions,
identify forward-looking statements, which generally
are not historical in nature. These statements may
contain information about financial prospects,
economic conditions, trends and uncertainties. We
caution that actual results could differ materially from
those that management expects, depending on the
outcome of certain factors. These forward-looking
statements involve risks and uncertainties that may
cause UnitedHealth Group’s actual results to differ
materially from the results discussed in the
forward-looking statements. Some factors that could
cause results to differ materially from the
forward-looking statements include: the potential
consequences of the findings announced on October
15, 2006 of the investigation by an Independent
Committee of directors of our historical stock option
practices; the consequences of the restatement of our
previous financial statements, related governmental
reviews, including a formal investigation by the
Securities and Exchange Commission, and review by
the Internal Revenue Service, U.S. Congressional
committees, U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of
New York and Minnesota Attorney General, a related
review by the Special Litigation Committee of the
Company, and related shareholder derivative actions,
including whether court approval of the settlement
agreements between the Company and certain named
defendants and the dismissal of the derivative claims
against all named defendants is obtained, shareholder
demands and purported securities and Employee
Retirement Income Security Act class actions, the
resolution of matters currently subject to an injunction
issued by the United States District Court for the
District of Minnesota, a purported notice of
acceleration with respect to certain of the Company’s
debt securities based upon an alleged event of default
under the indenture governing such securities, and
recent management and director changes, and the
potential impact of each of these matters on our
business, credit ratings and debt; increases in health
care costs that are higher than we anticipated in
establishing our premium rates, including increased
consumption of or costs of medical services;
heightened competition as a result of new entrants
into our market, and consolidation of health care
companies and suppliers; events that may negatively
affect our contracts with AARP; uncertainties regarding
changes in Medicare, including coordination of
information systems and accuracy of certain
assumptions; funding risks with respect to revenues
received from Medicare and Medicaid programs;
failure to achieve business growth targets, including
membership and enrollment; increases in costs and
other liabilities associated with increased litigation,
legislative activity and government regulation and
review of our industry; our ability to execute contracts
on competitive terms with physicians, hospitals and
other service providers; regulatory and other risks
associated with the pharmacy benefits management
industry; failure to maintain effective and efficient
information systems, which could result in the loss of
existing customers, difficulties in attracting new
customers, difficulties in determining medical costs
estimates and appropriate pricing, customer and
physician and health care provider disputes, regulatory
violations, increases in operating costs, or other
adverse consequences; possible impairment of the
value of our intangible assets if future results do not
adequately support goodwill and intangible assets
recorded for businesses that we acquire; potential
noncompliance by our business associates with patient
privacy data; misappropriation of our proprietary
technology; failure to complete or receive anticipated
benefits of acquisitions; change in debt to total capital
ratio that is lower or higher than we anticipated; the
potential consequences of the New York Attorney
General’s investigation into our provider
reimbursement practices; and the outcome of the
divestiture of our individual SecureHorizons Medicare
Advantage HMO plans in Clark and Nye Counties
(Nevada) and the integration of the operations of the
Company and Sierra Health Services, Inc. after the
divestiture.
This list of important factors is not intended to
be exhaustive. A further list and description of some of
these risks and uncertainties can be found in our reports
filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission
from time to time, including annual reports on Form
10-K, quarterly reports on Form 10-Q and current
reports on Form 8-K. Any or all forward-looking
statements we make may turn out to be wrong. You
should not place undue reliance on forward-looking
statements, which speak only as of the date they are
made. We do not undertake to publicly
update or revise any forward-looking statements.