Document and Entity Information Document - shares	6 Months Ended
	Jun. 30, 2016	Jul. 29, 2016
Document Information [Line Items]
Document Type	10-Q
Amendment Flag	false
Document Period End Date	Jun. 30, 2016
Document Fiscal Year Focus	2016
Document Fiscal Period Focus	Q2
Entitiy Registrant Name	UNITEDHEALTH GROUP INC
Entitiy Central Index Key	0000731766
Current Fiscal Year End Date	--12-31
Entity Filer Category	Large Accelerated Filer
Entity Common Stock, Shares Outstanding		952,391,411