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U among recipients of UnitedHealth's new charity
UnitedHealth Group is giving $100 million to Minnesota groups.
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After a year of internal efforts to recover from a stock-option scandal, UnitedHealth Group Inc. is seeking to bolster its standing in the community. On Wednesday, it committed $100 million in charitable giving over 10 years to Minnesota groups involved in education, health and social well-being.
This year, the University of Minnesota will receive $3 million, Minnesota Early Learning Foundation will get $2 million and Portico Healthnet, a group that helps the uninsured get coverage, will get $500,000. The Children's Theater Company will receive $5 million over 10 years.
"The people of UnitedHealth are passionate about helping people live healthier lives," Chief Executive Stephen Hemsley said Wednesday during a news conference. "This is close to our hearts as well as our home."
UnitedHealth, based in Minnetonka, is the country's largest health insurer, with net earnings of $4 billion last year.
Hemsley described the initiative, dubbed United Minnesota, as the "biggest individual undertaking" in charitable giving for UnitedHealth.
United Minnesota comes directly under UnitedHealth Group and not its foundations. That gives the company more freedom to disburse the funds without being bound by narrow charters, officials said.
Last year, UnitedHealth Group gave $8 million to various charitable groups, and was on course to exceed that this year before the announcement.
In addition, UnitedHealth Foundation and UnitedHealth Care Children's Foundation gave more than $23 million.
Such donations give corporations an opportunity to burnish their images in the community, while also creating a tax advantage. The health insurer ranked seventh among Minnesota corporations for charitable giving in 2006, according to the Minnesota Council on Foundations.
A new era?
Company officials gathered Wednesday morning at a community clinic in the Phillips neighborhood of Minneapolis, in a small back room usually used to teach self-care to diabetic and mental health patients. Community-University Health Care Center provides primary care, mental health and dental services to many poor and immigrant patients.
It was Hemsley's first news conference since taking the helm a year ago. He became chief executive after backdated stock options led to the departure of longtime CEO William McGuire.
A radio reporter asked whether this signaled a new era after the options episode.
"It is a new era, but there are several perspectives," Hemsley answered. "This is part of the evolving culture of a company. UnitedHealth is 30 years old. This is part of being a modern corporation today."
While the company has given to charities in the past, Hemsley said, "we've had nothing at this scale or level of organization or sustained commitment."
Gabriella Calicchio, managing director of the Children's Theater Company, said the $5 million gift was the largest in the theater's 42-year history.
University President Robert Bruininks said that UnitedHealth and university officials were working to "identify the most pressing issues we need to confront over the next 10 years." Bruininks said the university plans to expand health services in north Minneapolis. He said that it was too early to say whether Community-University, where the event was held, would be a beneficiary of the funds.
Groups that may be eligible for money should send a letter of inquiry to UnitedHealth, said Dan Johnson, vice president of community affairs.
Chen May Yee • 612- 673-7434
Chen May Yee • mychen@startribune.com
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