In response to the confirmation hearing of Trump’s nominee for Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services administrator Dr. Mehmet Oz, DNC Chair Ken Martin released the following statement:

“Donald Trump recruited fellow grifter and TV personality Dr. Oz to help him cut Medicare and Medicaid — leaving seniors, children, and folks in rural communities out in the cold to fund tax handouts for billionaires. While Dr. Oz tried to spin his record attacking these critical programs today, he’s already gearing up to implement Trump’s overwhelmingly unpopular cuts. This swindler should take his hands off Americans’ hard-earned benefits.”

NEW: Dr. Mehmet Oz bombed his Senate confirmation hearing to lead CMS, doubling down on his plans to help Donald Trump gut Medicare and Medicaid. 

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:

“‘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.’”

New York Times: “If the Senate confirms Dr. Oz, 64, to run the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, he would wield immense power, overseeing health insurance coverage for nearly half of all Americans and a budget of about $1.5 trillion in annual spending. Given his advocacy of Medicare Advantage, Dr. Oz would have the authority to expand the privatization of the government program as he and many Republicans have urged.”

Dr. Oz is a “relentless promoter” of private insurance plans and said he wouldn’t have voted for 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.’”

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.” 

Dr. Oz’s conflicts of interests would put Americans’ hard-earned benefits at risk.

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. …

“After Mr. Trump picked him in November to lead the Medicare-Medicaid agency, Dr. Oz did not drop his enthusiasm for iHerb. Over Thanksgiving, he promoted the company’s supplements on Instagram as a way to reduce stress.

“Under the private Medicare plans, customers are allowed to buy over-the-counter medicines and supplements through debit or prepaid cards, another potential conflict for Dr. Oz because of his history with iHerb and other supplement companies.”

REMINDER: Since Day One, Trump has launched attacks on Medicare and efforts to lower drug prices for working families while putting Medicaid on the chopping block to pay for another round of tax handouts for billionaires. 

White House: “The following executive actions are hereby revoked: …

“Executive Order 14009 of January 28, 2021 (Strengthening Medicaid and the Affordable Care Act). …

“Executive Order 14087 of October 14, 2022 (Lowering Prescription Drug Costs for Americans).”

Sarah Ferris, CNN: “House budget plan is out. Besides 2 years of debt limit + $4.5T in tax cuts and $200B in border, there’s BIG news for fiscal hawks 

“It calls for $2T in *mandatory* cuts, aka Medicaid, since Trump has ruled out Medicare/SS”

Trump: “[T]he House Resolution implements my FULL America First Agenda, EVERYTHING, not just parts of it! We need both Chambers to pass the House Budget”