Quarterly Financial Data (Unaudited) Quarterly Financial Data (Unaudited) (Tables)

12 Months Ended

Dec. 31, 2012

Quaterly Financial Data (Unaudited) [Abstract]

Schedule of Quarterly Financial Information [Table Text Block]

Selected quarterly financial information for all quarters of 2012 and 2011 is as follows:

	For the Quarter Ended
(in millions, except per share data)	March 31		June 30		September 30		December 31
2012
Revenues	$	27,282	$	27,265	$	27,302	$	28,769
Operating costs	24,965		25,039		24,692		26,668
Earnings from operations	2,317		2,226		2,610		2,101
Net earnings	1,388		1,337		1,557		1,244
Net earnings per share attributable to UnitedHealth Group common shareholders:
Basic	1.34		1.30		1.52		1.22
Diluted	1.31		1.27		1.50		1.20
2011
Revenues	$	25,432	$	25,234	$	25,280	$	25,916
Operating costs	23,211		23,135		23,210		23,842
Earnings from operations	2,221		2,099		2,070		2,074
Net earnings	1,346		1,267		1,271		1,258
Basic net earnings per common share	1.24		1.18		1.19		1.19
Diluted net earnings per common share	1.22		1.16		1.17		1.17