NEW YORK (Standard&Poor's) Aug. 18, 2005--Standard&Poor's Ratings Services said today that it assigned its preliminary 'A' senior debt, 'A-' subordinated debt, and 'BBB+' preferred stock ratings to UnitedHealth Group Inc.'s (NYSE:UNH) $4 billion shelf registration, which was filed on Aug. 16, 2005. "The ratings reflect UNH's very strong competitive position, strong diversification, extremely strong earnings profile, very strong financial flexibility, and good statutory capitalization," said Standard&Poor's credit analyst Shellie Stoddard. Through June 30, 2005, UNH reported extremely strong pretax earnings of $2.46 billion compared with $1.77 billion through the same period in 2004. The company has made several acquisitions since the start of 2004 (excluding the acquisition of PacifiCare Health Systems Inc. announced in
