“Pay no attention to the man behind the curtain!” — Wizard of Oz
By Jack Bernard, contributing columnist
PEACHTREE CITY, Ga. | The GOP wants us to ignore the shortcomings of Dr. Mehmet Oz, the man behind the curtain who will be administrator over the $1.5 trillion Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) which manages all federal government health insurance programs.
Like the Wizard, Dr. Oz has lots of issues, as detailed by Senator Elizabeth Warren prior to his confirmation hearing . That baggage includes allegedly not paying his taxes to fund these programs, per Senator Ron Wyden of the Senate Finance Committee.
Dr. Oz began his career in admirable fashion, graduating from Harvard and the University of Pennsylvania. He eventually became a respected professor of surgery at Columbia. However, his reputation went rapidly downhill when he started the daily TV program, The Dr. Oz Show (2009-2022).
Oz shamelessly promoted weird, invalid alternative medicine and pseudoscience theories. One area of particularly shameless promotion for financial gain was his pushing of “miracle cures” and useless pills for weight loss. He continued this trend through the Covid pandemic, where he incorrectly advocated for malaria drugs to counteract Covid.
Oz in 2016. Photo via Wikipedia.
As a result of his TV fame and investments in healthcare companies like the ones he pushed, Dr. Oz, the 64-year-old son of Turkish immigrants, is now worth close to $100 million. (In addition,his wife is heir to the Asplundh Tree Expert firm.)
Because of these numerous conflicts of interest, Senator Warren has asked Oz to: (1) divest any remaining financial interests in health-related companies or patents that he will have the power to influence; (2) recuse from matters involving his former employers and clients; and, (3) for at least four years after you leave office, not lobby CMS or join the industries that depend on CMS’s work.
Oz did not confirm that he would do all of the above, yet he was still confirmed on a 53-45 vote. All Democrats voted against him (Duckworth and Murray did not vote). No Republicans voted against him.
What is arguably the most worrisome about Oz is his push to do away with traditional Medicare and force Americans into HMOs and PPOs under Medicare Advantage. In the recent past, Oz has even suggested forcing all Americans into the program, saying it will bring about “a golden age in health-care delivery.”
In making this baseless claim, Dr. Oz ignores the facts.
The incentive for these Medicare Advantage corporations is to overbill and underprovide needed services. That is how they make hundreds of millions of dollars in profits. Having worked in the industry, I can tell you that is how any commercial insurance company works.
Per the Medicare Payment Advisory Commission (MedPAC), costs to taxpayers for patients in Traditional Medicare have always been lower than for seniors insured under Medicare Advantage. Thus, according to PNHP ( a respected physician advocacy organization)- “Medicare Advantage overcharges taxpayers by a minimum of 22 percent or $88 billion per year, and potentially by up to 35 percent or $140 billion.”
Our national deficit ballooned in Trump’s last term, in large part due to ridiculous tax cuts for corporations and the wealthy. Going to Medicare Advantage, as Dr. Oz advocates, will only make things worse.
- Have a comment? Click here to send an email.
Follow Us