Democrats demand answers from Trump pick Mehmet Oz on ‘Medicare privatization’

In a new letter, seven Democratic lawmakers probed “Dr. Oz” on his past support for putting all seniors in Medicare Advantage and questioned whether he has conflicts of interest.

Dec. 10, 2024, 10:00 AM EST By Sahil Kapur

Here are the key points from the page:

  • Democratic Senators’ Concerns: Key Democratic senators, led by Sen. Elizabeth Warren, are questioning Mehmet Oz about his past support for Medicare privatization and his financial ties to private insurers.
  • Medicare Advantage Advocacy: Oz has previously advocated for replacing traditional Medicare with Medicare Advantage, raising concerns about potential conflicts of interest.
  • Financial Disclosures: Oz’s financial disclosures reveal significant investments in UnitedHealth, a major player in Medicare Advantage, which is under investigation for antitrust issues and Medicare fraud.
  • Confirmation Process: The letter from the senators serves as a preview of the tough questions Oz will face during his confirmation process to lead the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS).

“In the wake of that nomination, we write regarding our concerns about your advocacy for the elimination of Traditional Medicare and your deep financial ties to private health insurers. Indeed, private insurers that run the Medicare Advantage program drastically overcharge for care1. Your advocacy for eliminating the Traditional Medicare program and replacing it with Medicare Advantage also raises questions about your own financial conflicts of interest. In your financial disclosures from your 2022 Senate run, you reported owning over $550,000 of stock in UnitedHealth, the largest private insurer in Medicare Advantage and largest employer of physicians in the nation. The company is currently under a sprawling antitrust investigation by the Department of Justice — including for its role in aggressively upcoding Medicare Advantage enrollees to secure higher payments from CMS — and has been sued on multiple occasions for Medicare fraud. Under your plan, UnitedHealth’s revenue from Medicare Advantage would roughly double to $274 billion annually.”

The letter was co-signed by Sen. Ron Wyden, D-Ore., who is set to become the ranking member of the Finance Committee, and five other Democrats in Congress.

The Finance Committee oversees the CMS nomination and its members, which include Warren, will get to question Oz. The letter serves as a preview of what Oz will face during the confirmation process, at least from Democrats. Republicans will hold a 53-47 seat majority and need 50 senators to confirm a nomination, meaning Democrats couldn’t derail the pick without persuading at least four Republicans to vote against him.

The Democratic lawmakers asked Oz a series of questions, including whether he’ll “continue to support policies that would eliminate Traditional Medicare” if confirmed to lead CMS and whether he’ll “commit to opposing any and all efforts to privatize or cut Medicare.”

They also asked if he’ll “commit to fully divesting of any and all financial holdings related to the insurance industry if you are confirmed as Administrator.”

“In the wake of that nomination, we write regarding our concerns about your advocacy for the elimination of Traditional Medicare and your deep financial ties to private health insurers. Indeed, private insurers that run the Medicare Advantage program drastically overcharge for care,” the senators wrote, citing analysis from the nonpartisan Medicare Payment Advisory Committee.

The Democrats referred to a 2020 opinion piece that Oz co-wrote calling for putting all Americans into Medicare Advantage, effectively replacing the traditional Medicare program in which the government directly insures Americans 65 and older in tandem with private insurance plans.

In 2022, when Oz unsuccessfully ran for Senate in Pennsylvania, he offered a more modest platform that didn’t call for ending traditional Medicare, although he maintained his support for boosting Medicare Advantage. “We can expand Medicare Advantage plans,” he wrote in an AARP questionnaire, calling the plans “popular among seniors” and arguing they “provide quality care” with the right cost incentives.

The lawmakers in the letter sounded skeptical.

UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson was killed last week in a shooting that has captured the nation’s attention.

  1. analysis from the nonpartisan Medicare Payment Advisory Committee. ↩