NY -- Standard&Poor's CreditWire 9/3/98 -- Standard&Poor's today lowered its counterparty credit rating of United Healthcare Corp. to single-'A' from single-'A' plus and removed the rating from CreditWatch, where it was placed Aug. 6, 1998. In addition, Standard&Poor's assigned its 'A-1' rating to United Healthcare's $800 million-$1 billion commercial paper program, which the company plans to initiate in the fourth quarter of 1998. Standard&Poor's also assigned its single-'A' financial strength and counterparty credit ratings to United Healthcare of Ohio, and its single-'A'-plus financial strength and counterparty credit ratings to United Healthcare of North Carolina. Both companies are operating units of United Healthcare. The downgrade reflects United Healthcare's significantly lower-than-expected earnings performance, a
