UnitedHealth Group reported $14.4 billion in 2024 profits as its UnitedHealthcare health insurance and Optum provider services overcame rising costs and a cyberattack.

UnitedHealth CEO Andrew Witty said on Thursday that healthcare in the U.S. needs to be "less confusing, less complex and less costly" during the company's first earnings call since the murder of Brian Thompson,

International: Shares of the health care giant slid Thursday after it released its first financial report since the brazen shooting of one of its executives outside a New York City hotel touched a national nerve and brought to the surface American frustration over health care access.

U.S. stock indexes drifted lower following a mixed set of earnings reports from Morgan Stanley, UnitedHealth Group and other big companies

Witty's comments came during the company's first earnings call since the killing of Brian Thompson, the CEO of the company's insurance arm UnitedHealthcare.

UnitedHealth Group ( UNH) held its first earnings call since the shooting of its insurance executive last month. UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson was killed outside of an investor day meeting in New York City on Dec. 4. Luigi Mangione, 26, of Towson, Md., was arrested for the murder days after the attack.

UnitedHealth Group has reported quarterly profits of $5.5 billion after tax in its first earnings release since the killing of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson in New York City, which sparked a wider debate about the cost of health insurance and medication for the American public.