What will Dr. Oz do as head of Medicare agency?

President-elect Donald Trump has nominated Mehmet Oz to be the next head of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS), the agency that oversees Medicare and Medicaid, reports the New York Times. The choice of Dr. Oz, a TV celebrity with no government or management experience is in keeping with Trump’s other picks for big government roles. The open question is what will Dr. Oz do as head of CMS?

If the past is any indicator, Dr. Oz will put in place plans to eliminate the public traditional Medicare program. It would be a huge mistake and arguably not doable, given that Medicare Advantage doesn’t work for some people in some parts of the country and works poorly for people with serious conditions and people with low incomes in many parts of the country. Wealthy Americans who understand the health risks of a Medicare Advantage plan avoid it at all costs.

Traditional Medicare covers your care from virtually any physician or hospital in the country, without delay or forcing you to go through prior authorization hoops. When you need costly care, as most of us will at some point, Medicare protects you and ensures you are able to get the care you need. Medicare Advantage, in sharp contrast, works well when you’re healthy and tends to delay and deny care inappropriately when you most need care. So, people in Medicare Advantage take a huge risk.

Back when he ran against John Fetterman for a US Senate seat in 2022, Oz made clear that, unlike his opponent, he does not support “free health care for everyone.”  Oz advocates for Medicare Advantage for All, a health care system that gives full control over our healthcare to big private insurers and will ration care based on ability to pay.

Oz has suggested a 20 percent payroll tax to cover the costs of his Medicare Advantage for All plan. It would be a huge windfall for the biggest corporate health insurers. It would also be a huge windfall for Oz, as he and his wife are reported to have millions of dollars invested in the health care industry.

Senator Patty Murray of Washington State expressed deep concern about Dr. Oz’s nomination: “Even putting aside the raft of alarming pseudoscience Dr. Oz has previously endorsed, it is deeply disappointing to see someone with zero qualifications being announced to head up such a critical agency.”

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