Commitment to Ethical Marketing

Position Statement 

At UnitedHealth Group, our mission and values drive our commitment to transparent, honest and ethical marketing across our businesses. Health care is among the most personal and intimate aspects of everyone’s life. Each day, we put the needs of those we serve first, one person and one interaction at a time, building trusting relationships and customer loyalty. Our communications reflect our commitment to making health care work for everyone.

The UnitedHealth Group Code of Conduct guides us in our work and reminds us of our accountability to the people and organizations we are privileged to serve. Our enterprise’s marketing activities follow our highest ethical standards of integrity, honesty, respect, responsibility and compliance with the laws and regulations that govern our business activities around the world.

We also are committed to working to build a modern, high-performing health system and driving distinguished societal return by improving health care access and affordability, enhancing the health care experience and achieving better health outcomes for the individuals and organizations we serve. We present information in a clear, truthful and professional manner as we work to meet the biggest industry challenges head on and provide people, care providers, businesses, communities and governments with innovative products and complete end-to-end offerings.

Components of Ethical Marketing

As outlined in the UnitedHealth Group Sustainability Report, our materials are factual, honest, straightforward descriptions of the services we offer, enabling members to make informed decisions about their health care. We are committed to inclusion and diversity in our marketing practices, and rely on and harness evidence-based, data-driven content.

Our sales and marketing activities serve our business objectives, foster enduring relationships with our stakeholders, and build trust individual-by-individual. Accordingly, we will not mislead in our statements or claims, and only authorized individuals will speak on behalf of the enterprise.

We developed the Just Plain Clear^® Glossary — which defines thousands of health care terms in easy-to-understand language — and leverage the tool to improve our own marketing and communications efforts. This resource is also available externally for use by other health care stakeholders, and includes all of the words in the Uniform Glossary, which comprises commonly used health coverage and medical terms and was jointly created by the U.S. Departments of Labor and Health and Human Services.

Maintaining the privacy and security of personal information that we collect or use, or that is entrusted to our care, is also an essential component of UnitedHealth Group’s mission and our commitment to integrity and ethical behavior in our actions, including marketing and communications.

• We are a highly regulated industry. We regularly train and require our employees to recognize that part of their day-to-day responsibilities may include access to and use of someone’s personal information and to observe our policies, practices and standards.
• Our employees’ access to, storage of, or disclosure of personal information is to accomplish business objectives in a secure manner appropriate to the sensitivity of the information and applicable law or policies.

Our Supplier Code of Conduct reinforces our commitment to applying and promoting socially responsible practices that respect and protect the personal dignity, privacy and rights of our clients, employees and stakeholders. This code is a set of standards for ethical and legal business practices that we require and expect our business partners to abide by when conducting business activities with us or on our behalf, including marketing and communications efforts.

Marketing Operations

UnitedHealth Group’s business segments proactively review external marketing materials and communications to members, clients, customers, providers and stakeholders, so that they are truthful, accurate and complete, and comply with applicable laws, regulations and company policy.

• Applicable laws and regulations include the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services Marketing Guidelines, Food and Drug Administration regulations, Federal Trade Commission regulations and state departments of insurance regulations.
  

The review process is a collaborative effort by compliance, privacy and legal teams supporting business activities across the enterprise. Materials reviewed include client presentations and proposals, member communications and explanations of benefits, and training and educational materials, as well as marketing materials directed to a range of audiences.

Summary

The reputation of UnitedHealth Group and all of our related companies stands upon the relationships we maintain with the public, the press and all who are touched by our company. Our business environment is dynamic, and we are dedicated to maintaining the accuracy of our marketing and communications efforts, reflecting our values and our commitment to high standards of personal and institutional integrity.