In response to Senate Republicans confirming Dr. Mehmet Oz to be the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services administrator, DNC Chair Ken Martin released the following statement: 

“Senate Republicans are helping Donald Trump put an unqualified grifter in charge of gutting Medicare and Medicaid for millions of people. Just like Trump, Dr. Mehmet Oz doesn’t give a damn about Americans’ health care — he’s more interested in pillaging Medicare and Medicaid to give tax handouts to Trump’s billionaire backers. Make no mistake: Our health care is not safe in Trump and Dr. Oz’s hands.” 

Senate Republicans voted to confirm Dr. Mehmet Oz as the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services administrator after he said he’d help Trump gut the programs. 

Selena Simmons-Duffin, NPR: “NEW: Dr. Mehmet Oz confirmed as administrator of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services. Senate voted 53-45.” 

Sen. Ron Wyden: “Will you agree … to oppose any cuts to the Medicaid program?”

Dr. Mehmet Oz: *Dodges*

Sen. Wyden: “That’s not the question, doctor. The question is, will you oppose cuts to this program?” 

Dr. Oz: *Dodges again*

Sen. Wyden: “Let the record show that I asked a witness who said he cherishes this program, will you agree to oppose cuts? And he would not answer a yes or no question.”

Garrett Haake: “Buried in Oz announcement is this line which suggests cuts to Medicare may be on the table …”

REMINDER: Trump and Congressional Republicans are currently working to gut Medicaid and put health care on the chopping block for 79 million Americans to pay for another tax handout for his billionaire backers.

NBC News: “Senate Republicans released a new budget blueprint Wednesday that would pave the way for … making President Donald Trump’s 2017 tax cuts permanent.”

KFF: “Congress is currently targeting up to $880 billion or more in federal Medicaid spending reductions … instructing the House Energy & Commerce Committee (E&C) to reduce the federal deficit by at least $880 billion over 10 years. … As a result, major cuts to Medicaid are the only way to meet the House’s budget resolution required $880 billion (or more) in spending reductions.”

Dr. Oz has a history of attacking Americans’ health care — he has repeatedly promoted private insurance plans and said he would not have voted for the Affordable Care Act. 

Blavity: “[Oz] explained his belief that ‘health’ is only a right for those who can afford insurance.”

The Lever: “[Dr. Oz’s] program could move seniors and most Americans into private insurance plans that have been raising premiums and denying roughly one in ten medical claims, according to a recent government report finding that the plans frequently refuse to cover services required by Medicare.”

NOTUS: “Celebrity doctor Mehmet Oz … called for the ACA to be replaced with privately run Medicare Advantage plans for which he was once a paid spokesperson. … 

“‘I wouldn’t have voted for it,’ Oz tweeted in May.” 

Riddled with conflicts of interest, Dr. Oz would put Americans’ hard-earned benefits at risk.

Washington Post: “Health benefits company co-founded by Dr. Oz could be a conflict of interest”

“Ethics experts, lawyers and health care analysts say his ties to a health benefits company that could profit off the federal drug program entangle him in a potential conflict of interest. …

“Oz did not disclose his involvement with ZorroRX in his financial forms submitted to the Office of Government Ethics.” 

New York Times: “Dr. Oz: How His Millions Collide With Medicare”

“An examination by The Times of his myriad financial interests revealed not only opaque ties with the industries he may soon regulate but also a coziness with health care companies that lawmakers have already highlighted in questioning his independence. …

“In 2023, he joined iHerb, an online seller of vitamins and supplements, as an adviser and spokesman. In the new financial filing, his investments in iHerb represent one of his largest financial holdings, worth anywhere from $5 million to $25 million.”