Dr. Oz will run Medicare and Medicaid, probably right off a cliff
Jessica Corbett for Common Dreams
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| Russell Brand, RFK Jr & Dr. Oz posing with a lizard six months ago. |
Since Trump nominated Oz—who previously ran as a Republican for a U.S. Senate seat in
Pennsylvania—a wide range of critics have argued that the celebrity
cardiothoracic surgeon "is profoundly unqualified to lead any part of our
healthcare system, let alone an agency as important as CMS," in the
words of Robert Weissman, co-president of the consumer advocacy
group Public
Citizen.
After Thursday's 53-45 vote to confirm Oz, Weissman declared that "Republicans in the Senate
continued to just be a rubber stamp for a dangerous agenda that threatens to
turn back the clock on healthcare in America."
Weissman warned that "in addition to having significant
conflicts of interest, Oz is now poised to help enact the Trump
administration's dangerous agenda, which seeks to strip crucial healthcare
services through Medicare, Medicaid, and the Affordable Care Act from hundreds
of millions of Americans and to use that money to give tax breaks to
billionaires."
"As he showed in his confirmation hearing, Oz will also seek to further privatize Medicare, increasing the risk that seniors will receive inferior care and further threatening the long-term health of the Medicare program. We already know that privatized Medicare costs taxpayers nearly $100 billion annually in excess costs," he continued, referring to Medicare Advantage plans.
CMS is part of the Department of Health and Human Services,
now led by Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.—who, like Oz, came under fire for
his record of dubious claims during the confirmation process. Weissman said
that "Dr. Oz is joining a team of snake oil salesmen and anti-science
flunkies that have already shown disdain for the American people and their
health. This is yet another dark day for healthcare in America under
Trump."
Oz's confirmation came a day after Trump announced globally
disruptive tariffs and Senate Republicans unveiled a budget plan that would give the wealthy trillions of
dollars in tax cuts at the expense of federal food assistance and healthcare
programs.
"While Dr. Oz would rather play coy, this is no
hypothetical. Harmful cuts to Medicaid or Medicare are unavoidable in the
Trump-Republican budget plan that prioritizes another giant tax break for the
president's billionaire and corporate donors," Tony Carrk, executive
director of the watchdog group Accountable.US, said ahead of the vote.
"None of Dr. Oz's 'miracle' cures that he's peddled
over the years will help seniors when their fundamental health security is
ripped away to make the rich richer," Carrk continued. "And while
privatizing Medicare may enrich Dr. Oz's family and big insurance friends, it
will cost taxpayers far more and leave millions of patients vulnerable to
denials of care and higher out-of-pocket costs."
Lee Saunders, president of the American Federation of State,
County, and Municipal Employees (AFSCME), was similarly critical, saying after
the vote that "at a time when our population is growing older and the need
for access to home care, nursing homes, affordable prescription drugs, and
quality medical care has never been greater, Americans deserve better than a
snake oil salesman leading the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid
Services."
"Dr. Mehmet Oz has been shilling pseudoscience to line
his own pockets. He can't be trusted to defend Medicare and Medicaid from
billionaires who want to dismantle and privatize the foundation of affordable
healthcare in this country," the union leader added. "AFSCME
members—including nurses, home care and childcare providers, social workers and
more—will be watching and fighting back against any effort to weaken Medicare
and Medicaid. The 147 million seniors, children, Americans with disabilities,
and low-income workers who rely on these programs for affordable access to
healthcare deserve nothing less."
