Dr. Mehmet Oz is under pressure to clarify where he stands on health care as he prepares to join the Trump administration as more Americans see health care as a government responsibility.
Senator Elizabeth Warren and six other Democratic lawmakers sent a letter to Trump’s nominee to lead the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) on Tuesday raising concerns.
The lawmakers are demanding answers from Oz over his past calls to eliminate Medicare as it currently stands and over his ties to the private insurance industry.
The Democrats noted while Oz is a renowned heart surgeon, they had questions over his lack of qualifications and management experience to run the health care programs that provide coverage for 160 million Americans.
Trump nominated Oz, who made his name as a TV doctor, to oversee Medicare and Medicaid on November 20.
If confirmed he would be in charge of the programs that provide coverage for 160 million Americans.
But the seven lawmakers are raising questions over the television personality and one time GOP Senate candidate’s ‘previous advocacy for Medicare privatization’ and private insurance stock.
The lawmakers pointed to a proposal by Oz before his failed Senate bid where he called for uninsured Americans to be able to receive coverage through the Medicare Advantage program, a plan provided by approved private companies.
‘This plan would entirely eliminate Traditional Medicare – a program you have criticized as “highly dysfunctional,” but which provides more accessible and less expensive care than private insurers in Medicare Advantage,’ they wrote.
The lawmakers argued that private insurers that run Medicare Advantage programs ‘drastically overcharge for care’ and pointed to a report that such insurers will overcharge CMS $83 billion compared to traditional Medicare this year alone.
They also cited watchdog claims that Medicare Advantage insurers regularly delay and deny care.
‘Your advocacy for eliminating the Traditional Medicare program and replacing it with Medicare Advantage also raises questions about your own financial conflicts of interest,’ the lawmakers wrote.
They pointed to Oz’s 2022 financial disclosure where he reported owning more than half a million in UnitedHealth stock, the largest private insurer in Medicare Advantage.
Democrats pointed to the antitrust investigation UnitedHealth is currently facing which includes upcoding Medicare Advantage enrollees to receive higher CMS payments.
‘As CMS Administrator, you would be tasked with overseeing Medicare and ensuring that the tens of millions of seniors that rely on the program receive the care they deserve, including cracking down on abuses by private insurers in Medicare Advantage,’ the seven lawmakers wrote.
‘The consequences of failure on your part would be grave. Billions of federal health care dollars – and millions of lives – are at stake,’ they added.
The lawmakers sent Oz a list of questions with the request he respond by December 24.
They wanted to know if he still believed Traditional Medicare as ‘highly dysfunctional’ and supported policies to eliminate it.
They also asked if he was committed to fully divesting any financial holdings related to the insurance industry committing to recusing from decisions that may impact insurers he has a financial interest in if confirmed as administrator.
Their letter comes as more Americans believe it is the federal government’s responsibility to ensure all Americans have health care coverage.
According to the Gallup survey, 62 percent of Americans believe it is a government responsibility, the highest it’s been in more than a decade.
Only 36 percent of Americans believe ensuring coverage is not a responsibility of the federal government.
Those numbers, however, do break down along political party lines.
90 percent of Democrats and 65 percent of Independents believe it is a government responsibility. But just 32 percent of Republicans do, only a slight uptick from 30 percent in 2020.
Americans are also divided on whether they would prefer a government-run system or private insurance.
49 percent said in the Gallup survey, they prefer private while 46 percent said government run, but among Republicans, support for government-run health care, at 21 percent, is the highest it has ever been.