(Reuters) – UNITEDHEALTH announced on Tuesday the surprise of its director general Andrew Witty and suspended his forecasts for 2025 with the increase in medical costs.

On the New York Stock Exchange, the action lost more than 10% before the bell, resulting in its fall in the values ​​of the health sector including Humana, CVS and Elevance, which yielded 4 to 6%.

Former Director General Stephen Hemsley, who has worked for United Health for 28 years, will come back to the head of the health insurance group, following Andrew Witty’s departure for personal reasons, said the company, without giving more details.

Under the supervision of Andrew Witty, UNITEDHEALTH had to take up a series of challenges last year, notably the murder of Brian Thompson, director general of the group’s insurance unit, in December.

Earlier in 2024, the company’s technological unit had been the target of a cyber attack, blocking the health care treatment system in the United States for several days and affecting 200 million Americans.

United also recorded, for the first time since the 2008 financial crisis, results below expectations, resulting in lower annual prospects for the American insurer.

“The brutality (of the departure of Andrew Witty) is certainly a surprise, but no one should be given the unique difficulties of UNH compared to his peers. At some point, management must be held responsible,” said Kevin Gade, director of operations at Bahl and Gaynor.

The suspension of forecasts was not really a surprise, added Kevin Gade.

“When the use rate increases, you can assume an improvement, stabilization or worsening of your forecasts. Unfortunately, in the current context, UNH expressed worsening in the use of services, which leads to this suspension,” he said.

Unitedhealth plans to reconnect with growth in 2026.

(Written by Sriparna Roy and Sneha SK in Bangalore; Noémie Naudin, edited by Augustin Turpin)

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