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WASHINGTON, DC – Ahead of the final confirmation vote for Dr. Mehmet Oz–President Trump’s deeply flawed nominee for the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) administrator–government watchdog Accountable.US urged senators to put the health security of America’s seniors and vulnerable families above insurance company profits by voting ‘No’.  

During his confirmation hearing, Dr. Oz repeatedly dodged pointed questions on whether he would oppose cuts to Medicaid that six in 10 nursing home residents depend on for long-term care – concerning behavior, as the nonpartisan CBO concluded that the Trump-Congressional Republican budget plan would require deep cuts to Medicaid or Medicare to pay for another wasteful tax giveaway to billionaires and corporations. 

Dr. Oz has further shown he is too risky a choice to run CMS after years of promoting the privatization of Medicare for his financial benefit, despite Medicare Advantage’s poor track record of denials of care and far higher taxpayer costs. Dr. Oz’s years of enriching himself through the promotion of unproven medical treatments and junk science bring nothing of value to the CMS, only concern about the Trump administration’s further rejection of peer-reviewed science.

“Millions of seniors who rely on Medicaid for long-term care simply can’t afford a CMS administrator like Dr. Oz who doesn’t care if the program is on the chopping block,” said Accountable.US Executive Director Tony Carrk. “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. 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. And while privatizing Medicare may enrich Dr. Oz’ 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.” 

ANY VOTE FOR DR. OZ IS A VOTE TO ENDORSE: 

Financial Conflicts of Interest

  • Dr. Oz co-founded Sharecare, a digital health benefit company that, by 2022, that was providing services to at least 1.5 million Medicare Advantage enrollees. Oz profited millions off of Sharecare last year from a $518 million private equity deal, and has not promised to abstain from making decisions benefiting his former company and business associates. Additionally, Oz used his media platforms to advocate for “Medicare Advantage for All” while receiving revenue from a private health insurance agency that would profit from additional Medicare Advantage enrollees, a financial entanglement that raises questions about his incentives in office. How can Americans trust that the decisions Dr. Oz would make regarding Medicare Advantage would be in Americans’ best interests, rather than to help himself, his past business associates, and companies that have offered Oz lucrative sponsorships profit?
  • Dr. Oz was previously a significant stakeholder of health supplement retailer iHerb, whose products he extensively promoted online while holding a stake worth between $5-25 million. While Oz has promised to divest from iHerb, he has only vowed to abstain from actions directly affecting its business for one year, rather than the entire duration of his term. Given the extent of Oz’s involvement with iHerb and with future arrangements potentially at stake, if he is serious about maintaining an ethical and publicly legitimate tenure, why has he not promised to abstain from decisions affecting iHerb for the duration of his term at CMS?

A History of Promoting Unproven Treatments

  • The British Medical Journal found that around half the recommendations Dr. Oz made to his viewers as a TV host were either unsupported or directly contradicted by scientific evidence. Oz also received a two-year conference and publication ban from the American Association of Thoracic Surgery for making unsubstantiated claims in a medical research article, promoted anti-malaria medication as a COVID-19 treatment, and appeared conspicuously silent when President Trump suggested that Americans inject disinfectants intravenously to treat themselves for COVID-19. As a high-ranking public official in charge of a medical agency, Dr. Oz’s words would carry even more weight with Americans than when he was a TV personality. And as head of CMS, how can the American people trust he would set the record straight if President Trump, Secretary Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., or others in the administration share false information that puts Americans’ health at risk – or not share potentially dangerous misinformation himself? 

A Lack of Public Health Administration Experience

  • Dr. Oz has never managed a large healthcare organization or government agency. In running his show, Oz may have managed a few dozen people at a time. By contrast, as head of CMS, Oz would be tasked with leading an agency with more than 6,700 federal employees and budget outlays exceeding $1.5 trillion, with tens of millions of Americans’ healthcare coverage on the line. How can Americans reasonably expect Oz to effectively manage one of the federal government’s largest and most complex agencies?
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