UnitedHealth used an AI model it knew had a 90% error rate to cut off care for elderly patients, and kept using it because almost nobody appeals — that is the allegation at the centre of a class action now in discovery in Minnesota.

When patients did push back more than nine in ten denials were reversed on internal appeal or before a federal administrative law judge. Denials that rarely survived scrutiny, and scrutiny that rarely arrived.

One of the AI's victims is Gene Lokken (91) who broke his leg and ankle in a fall. UnitedHealth covered three weeks of nursing-home rehab, then stopped while his physical therapist's notes still recorded weakness and reduced mobility.

His family paid $12,000 to $14,000 a month out of pocket until he died a year later. His estate is the lead plaintiff.

Complaint (Estate of Gene B. Lokken v. UnitedHealth Group, D. Minn. 0:23-cv-03514):
https://www.courtlistener.com/docket/68006832/estate-of-gene-b-lokken-the-v-unitedhealth-group-inc/

March 2026 discovery order:
https://law.justia.com/cases/federal/district-courts/minnesota/mndce/0:2023cv03514/211721/162/

STAT on the HHS OIG findings:
https://www.statnews.com/2026/06/11/medicare-advantage-oig-report-rehab-care-deny-appeal-reverse/