Topline

Rep. Kevin Hern, R-Okla., who sits on the House Ways and Means Health Subcommittee, sold between $250,000 and $500,000 of UnitedHealth Group stock in December, according to a periodic transaction report filed Thursday, a sale that comes as Congress debates banning lawmakers from trading individual stocks.

Rep. Kevin Hern, R-Okla., talks with reporters outside the U.S. Capitol about members’ security after the murder of Charlie Kirk on Sept. 11, 2025. (Tom Williams/CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Images)

CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty ImagesKey Facts

On Dec. 23, the Hern Family Revocable Trust sold between $250,000 and $500,000 of UnitedHealth Group’s common stock, according to a periodic transaction report Hern filed with the House Clerk’s Office that appears to have been reported first by Quiver Quantitative.

Hern serves on the House Ways and Means Committee’s health subcommittee, which has jurisdiction over federal health care programs and payment policy.

UnitedHealth Group shares traded around $325 on Dec. 23, the day the Hern Family Trust sold the stock.

The stock had been trading above that level over this past month, hitting $356.26 on Friday.

UnitedHealth closed at $282.83 on Tuesday, down 13% from its price at the time of the sale, as health insurers fell sharply after the Trump administration proposed an average Medicare Advantage payment increase on Monday of just 0.09% for 2027.

“Congressman Hern has no involvement in the trades made by the Hern Family Trust as all sales and purchases are made by a longtime financial advisor,” his spokesperson, Ashley Haines, told Forbes.

Contra

The use of a family trust managed by a financial adviser does not shield lawmakers from conflict-of-interest concerns, since members of Congress can still benefit financially from trades and are not required to use blind trusts.

News Peg

Hern’s sale comes as lawmakers in both chambers push to bar members of Congress from trading individual stocks. On Jan. 15, Sens. Ashley Moody, R-Fla. and Kirsten Gillibrand, D-N.Y., introduced the Restore Trust in Congress Act, which would prohibit lawmakers, their spouses and dependent children from owning or trading stocks. That bill has been referred to the Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs. A House version Reps. Chip Roy, R-Texas, and Seth Magaziner, D-R.I., introduced in September, which has 125 cosponsors, has been referred to the House Administration Committee. A separate Senate proposal—the Halting Ownership and Non-Ethical Stock Transactions (HONEST) Act, sponsored by Sens. Josh Hawley, R-Mo., and Gary Peters, D-Mich.—advanced out of committee in July, while 80 representatives have signed on to Rep. Anna Paulina Luna’s, R-Fla., discharge petition in the House to force a floor vote on a similar ban. Hern’s spokesperson did not answer a question on his position on a congressional stock-trading ban.

Key Background

Hern reported having a 100% interest in the trust, which he holds jointly, according to the report. In 2024, he disclosed owning $550,000 to $1.1 million worth of UnitedHealth through the trust and a foundation.

Big Number

25: The number of lawmakers who have traded UnitedHealth shares in the past year, according to Capitol Trades’ analysis of congressional financial disclosures. Hern’s sale was the largest individual trade. Reps. Michael McCaul, R-Texas, and Tim Moore, R-N.C., each reported trades in the $50,000 to $100,000 range, while Rep. Ro Khanna, D-Calif., was the most frequent trader, with 24 UnitedHealth transactions.

Surprising Fact

Before Congress, Hern built his fortune as a McDonald’s franchisee, at one point owning 24 locations in Oklahoma, according to his biography on the House Republican Conference website.

What To Watch For

Lawmakers’ next annual financial disclosures, which report holdings as of Dec. 31, 2025, are due May 15, 2026, though many members of Congress receive extensions that push the deadline to mid-August. In the meantime, lawmakers must report stock transactions within 45 days, with filings posted on each chamber’s website.

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