Up First from NPR
Trump's Defense Pick, United Healthcare CEO Killed, Mass Deportations And Jobs
Thu, 05 Dec 2024
President-elect Donald Trump's embattled nominee for secretary of defense, Pete Hegseth, faces a tough path to confirmation in the Senate. New York City police are searching for the person who killed the head of America's largest health insurer. And, the conclusions of an economist who studied the impact of mass deportations on the job market.Want more comprehensive analysis of the most important news of the day, plus a little fun? Subscribe to the Up First newsletter.Today's episode of Up First was edited by Roberta Rampton, Russell Lewis, Alfredo Carbajal, Lisa Thomson and HJ Mai. It was produced by Ziad Buchh, Nia Dumas and Kaity Kline. We get engineering support from Neisha Heinis. And our technical director is Carleigh Strange. Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy
Chapter 1: What challenges does Trump's Defense Pick face?
The embattled nominee for Secretary of Defense quotes President-elect Trump as offering support.
It's a fight. They're coming after you. Get after it.
So how is Pete Hexeth answering claims about his conduct over the years?
I'm Michelle Martin, that's Steve Inskeep, and this is Up First from NPR News. New York City police are searching for the person who killed the head of America's largest health insurer. This was a premeditated, preplanned, targeted attack.
What do we know so far about the shooting? Also, we look at some of the side effects of mass deportations.
When there is an increase in deportations in a county, that does not lead to more job opportunities or higher wages for U.S.-born workers.
Stay with us. We've got the news you need to start your day.
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Chapter 2: What happened to United Healthcare's CEO?
Thanks for the detail about the silencer. I looked at that weapon on the video and thought, wow, that's a long barrel and wondered if that's what that was. So thank you for that. Now, as far as the victim, who was Thompson?
So he was 50 years old. He lived outside Minneapolis with his wife and two kids, and he was a longtime executive at United Health Group. He joined that company two decades ago and worked his way up as the company grew bigger and more powerful. Three years ago, Thompson took over the unit called United Health Care, which is the largest health insurer in the United States.
Chapter 3: How do mass deportations affect the job market?
It has tens of millions of customers, and it made almost $300 billion in revenue last year. But it's important to point out that as big as this insurance business is, it's just part of the larger UnitedHealth parent company, which isn't a household name necessarily, but it's one of the largest companies in the United States.
Yeah. And of course, we're asking these questions because we don't know who the gunman was. We don't know what the motive was. But of course, you look into the affairs of this person who was shot. So what else does UnitedHealth own? Yeah.
It touches pretty much every part of the U.S. healthcare experience, Steve. Another big business it owns is Optum, which manages pharmacy benefits, or you might remember the Change Healthcare hack earlier this year. That's also owned by UnitedHealth. United is also the largest employer of doctors in the entire country. It said last year that it employs or is affiliated with 90,000 physicians.
That's one out of every 10 doctors in the country. So with this size and scale, UnitedHealth has drawn a lot of criticism and scrutiny from consumers and regulators and lawmakers, sometimes over how it wields its power. Just last month, we saw the Justice Department file an antitrust lawsuit trying to block UnitedHealth from buying yet another business for $3 billion.
Health insurance companies make a lot of people angry. They reject claims. They do a lot of things that enrage people. Don't they get a lot of threats?
Yes, health care executives receive a ton of threats. And part of that, Steve, as you said, is the general anger and frustration so many feel over health care in the United States. The country has the most expensive health care in the developed world and some of the worst health outcomes. And since UnitedHealth is the biggest health care company, it's a key part of that system.
So it gets blamed by a lot of people when the system doesn't work.
NPR's Maria Aspin in New York City, thanks so much. Thank you. Okay, if President-elect Trump succeeds in deporting millions of people from the United States, his administration will not be the first.
Yes, in fact, the U.S. has deported millions of people in the past. And that gives us a chance to answer a question. When you deport a lot of workers who are not citizens, does that improve the job market for people who are and other people in the U.S. legally?
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