It's a somber day

Brian Thompson, the CEO of UnitedHealth Group's insurance division, was shot and killed in a targeted attack in New York City on Wednesday, ahead of the company's investor conference.

STAT's Tara Bannow, Bob Herman and Lev Facher did the unenviable but necessary job of reporting on the murder. Reached by phone Wednesday morning, Thompson's sister-in-law, Maria Reveiz, described Thompson as a wonderful person and hard worker. Bannow also visited the Thompsons' residence, but no one answered the door.

Thompson's wife told NBC News that he had received threats, though the motivation for the killing was still unknown as of the writing of this newsletter. A manhunt was ongoing. New York Police Commissioner Jessica Tisch called the shooting a "brazen, targeted attack."

THE COURTS

SCOTUS wary of gender-affirming care arguments

Sarah Owermohle and Theresa Gaffney provided an in-person account of the oral arguments over gender-affirming care inside the Supreme Court and the scene outside the court.

Conservative justices appeared skeptical of arguments that they should step in to reverse Tennessee's ban on gender-affirming care for minors.

The case could have major implications for trans people of all ages, as well as for how much freedom states have to regulate health care more broadly in areas like reproductive health. Get all of the details here.

ON THE HILL

Who says CRs must be clean?

Conventional wisdom has been that if lawmakers resort to stopgap government funding legislation, they would kick the can down the road on expiring health care policies. Instead, congressional Republicans proposed a health care legislative package worth tens of billions of dollars, my colleague Rachel Cohrs Zhang scooped yesterday.

The proposal kicks off negotiations with Democrats over several big health care policies with a government funding deadline looming on Dec. 20. Democrats, who are in charge of the Senate until next year, oppose the way Republicans propose to pay for the legislative package.

Everything is fluid, as is always the case. Click here for what we know so far.

TRUMP TRANSITION

Get pumped for confirmation

Unlike some of Trump's cabinet nominees, RFK Jr. has yet to schedule meetings with Republican senators who will vote on his nomination to head HHS, according to hallway interviews.

Sens. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa), Thom Tillis (R-N.C.), John Barrasso (R-Wy.), and Ron Johnson (R-Wis.), all members of the Finance Committee that has jurisdiction over HHS secretary nominations, told me they they were not aware of scheduled meetings with Kennedy. Johnson, a member of the Make America Healthy Again movement, said he has spoken to Kennedy in the past about fighting chronic disease. Other nominees, including Pete Hegseth (defense secretary), Pam Bondi (attorney general), Elise Stefanik (UN ambassador), and Matt Gaetz (withdrawn attorney general) have already taken meetings with senators.

Instead of donning a suit and heading to the hill, Kennedy has been preparing for confirmation hearings by working out shirtless to the soundtrack of Rocky.

VACCINE CRITICISM

There's money in vaccine criticism

When Kennedy announced his presidential run in April 2023, he stepped down from his position as chairman and chief legal counsel of the Children's Health Defense. For the three and half months that he worked at the nonprofit that year, he made $326,056, super sleuth Isabella Cueto reported this week.

That would come out to a weekly pay rate of more than $20,000. It is not clear when Kennedy stopped receiving a salary from the organization he founded, and STAT did reach out for comment.

Since 2020, the group that Kennedy founded has filed nearly 30 lawsuits related to vaccine requirements, online censorship, adverse event data, and the authorization of Covid shots.

More around STAT

Check out more exclusive coverage with a STAT+ subscription

Read premium in-depth biotech, pharma, policy, and life science coverage and analysis with all of our STAT+ articles.

What we're reading

Dr. Glaucomflecken on making medicine funny again, STAT
RFK Jr. used to sell the very type of fluoridated water he's now trying to eliminate, The New Yorker
Eli Lilly says its obesity drug Zepbound outperformed Wegovy, STAT