King Donald appoints another 'Profoundly Unqualified' to head vital agency
Jessica Corbett for Common Dreams
Since President Donald Trump announced Oz
as his nominee for administrator of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid
Services (CMS) last November, opponents have spotlighted the doctor's promotion of unproven products, investments in
companies with interests in the federal agency, and support for expanding Medicare Advantage during
an unsuccessful U.S. Senate run in 2022.
"Dr. Oz's career promoting dubious medical treatments and pseudoscience often for personal financial gain should immediately disqualify him from serving in any public health capacity, let alone in a top administration health post," Accountable.US executive director Tony Carrk said in a Friday statement.
In December, Carrk's group found that
based on disclosures from Oz's 2022 run against U.S. Sen. John
Fetterman (D-Pa.), the Republican doctor reported "up to $56
million in investments in three companies" with direct CMS
interests—including Sharecare, which became the "exclusive in-home care
supplemental benefit program" for 1.5 million Medicare Advantage
enrollees.
A spokesperson said at the time that Oz has since divested
from Sharecare. However, critics have still expressed concern about how the
nominee's confirmation could boost Republican efforts to expand Medicare
Advantage—health insurance plans for seniors administered by private companies
rather than the government.
"As a self-interested advocate of privatizing Medicare
at a higher cost and more denials of care for seniors, Dr. Oz is surely eager
to enact the Trump-Republican budget plan to gut Medicare and Medicaid and
jeopardize health coverage for millions of Americans—all to pay for more tax
breaks for billionaires and price gouging corporations," said Carrk.
"Dr. Oz's nomination is part of President Trump's grand plan to enrich his
corporate donors and wealthy friends while the rest of us get higher costs,
less coverage, and weakened protections—especially those with preexisting
conditions."
Robert Weissman, co-president of the consumer advocacy
group Public
Citizen, has been similarly critical of Oz, and remained so after senators
questioned him on Friday, saying in a statement that "Mehmet Oz showed he
is profoundly unqualified to lead any part of our healthcare system, let alone
an agency as important as CMS."
"Between his massive conflicts of interest across the
healthcare sector and his endorsement of further privatizing Medicare, Oz would
be a threat to the health of tens of millions of Americans," Weissman
warned. "Privatized Medicare
Advantage plans deliver inferior care and cost taxpayers nearly $100
billion annually in excess costs."
"It is time for President Trump to put down the remote,
stop finding nominees on television, and instead nominate people with actual
experience and a belief in the importance of protecting crucial health programs
like Medicare and Medicaid," he argued, taking aim at not only the
president but also his billionaire adviser Elon Musk, head of the
so-called Department
of Government Efficiency and, Robert F. Kennedy
Jr., the conspiracy theorist now running the Department of Health and Human
Services.
Weissman declared that "Trump, Musk, and RFK Jr. fail
to put the American people first as they seek to gut agencies and make
dangerous cuts to health programs to fund tax cuts for billionaires. Oz
indicated he would not oppose such cuts, bringing more destruction to
lifesaving programs. Oz has no place in government and should be roundly
rejected by every senator."
During a Friday exchange with Sen. Ron Wyden (D-Ore.), the
committee's ranking member, Oz refused to decisively commit to opposing cuts to
Medicaid. As the Alliance for Retired Americans highlighted, Oz kept that up
when given opportunities to revise his answer by Sens. Ben
Ray Luján (D-N.M.) and Michael
Bennet (D-Colo.).
Other moments from the hearing that garnered attention
included Oz's exchange with Sen. Catherine
Cortez Masto (D-Nev.) about Affordable Care Act tax credits and
Sen. Maggie Hassan (D-N.H.) calling out the doctor for his
unwillingness "to take accountability for" his "promotion of
unproven snake oil remedies" to millions of TV viewers.
