In response to Donald Trump tapping Dr. Mehmet Oz as the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services administrator, DNC Rapid Response Director Alex Floyd released the following statement: 

“Donald Trump has already talked about ‘cutting’ Medicare and Medicaid and tossing our seniors out in the cold – that’s why he wants to leave these critical programs in the hands of an out-of-touch lackey like Dr. Oz who’s threatened to privatize them before and is now getting the green light for devastating cuts. America’s seniors can’t afford to let another TV personality go after their hard-earned benefits, and Democrats will stand up for our seniors against whatever reckless schemes Trump and Dr. Oz try to push to slash Americans’ access to health care.”

NEW: Donald Trump just chose Dr. Mehmet Oz to lead the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, suggesting in the announcement that Oz will help the Trump-Vance administration gut Medicare.

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

“‘He will also cut waste and fraud within our Country’s most expensive Government Agency, which is a third of our Nation’s Healthcare spend, and a quarter of our entire National Budget.’”

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.

“To pay for his privatization plan, Oz has proposed a 20 percent payroll tax, which would ultimately transfer money from workers to the Republican Party’s private insurance donors that have been reporting record profits while jacking up premiums.

“In other words, Oz himself wants to increase taxes on lower- and middle-class Americans to fund his own version of a corporate-run, universal health care system — one that could come with high patient costs, continued barriers to care, and a windfall for the health insurance industry.” 

Dr. Oz also believes Americans have “no right” to health care, threatening the Affordable Care Act. 

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

“‘Give them a way of crawling back out of the abyss, of darkness, of fear, over not having the health they need, and give them an opportunity,’ he said in the clip. ‘They don’t have the right to health, but they have a right to access — a chance to get that health.’”

Reminder: Donald Trump and JD Vance have already repeatedly proposed gutting Medicare & Medicaid.  

Forbes: “Trump Floats ‘Cutting’ Spending On Entitlements Like Social Security And Medicare”

Rolling Stone: “Trump Floats Cuts to Social Security and Medicare”

CNN: “Trump now says he’s open to entitlement cuts, including Medicare”

Center on Budget and Policy Priorities: “President Trump has made clear that his goal remains to repeal the Affordable Care Act (ACA), including its expansion of Medicaid to low-income adults, and to impose rigid caps on the federal government’s Medicaid spending.”

Washington Post: “His avowed stance, however, is at odds with Trump’s own record as president: Each of his White House budget proposals included cuts to Social Security and Medicare programs.”

Vance: “[Social Security and Medicare] are the biggest roadblocks to any kind of real fiscal sanity.”