Document and Entity Information Document - shares	3 Months Ended
	Mar. 31, 2019	Apr. 30, 2019
Document Information [Line Items]
Document Type	10-Q
Amendment Flag	false
Document Period End Date	Mar. 31, 2019
Document Fiscal Year Focus	2019
Document Fiscal Period Focus	Q1
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 Small Business	false
Entity Emerging Growth Company	false
Entity Common Stock, Shares Outstanding		950,343,113