Ahead of Hearing, Warren Presses Dr. Oz, Key Trump Health Nominee, on Financial Conflicts of Interests
Sen. Warren demands Dr. Oz divest from conflicted financial interests, recuse from matters involving former employers and clients, and commit not to lobby CMS or work for industries regulated by CMS for four years after leaving government service
“By making these commitments, you would increase Americans’ trust in your ability to serve the public interest during your time at (the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services) — rather than the special interests of companies in your network.”
Washington, D.C. – U.S. Senator Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) wrote to Dr. Mehmet Oz, President Trump’s pick for Administrator of the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS), pressing him on his serious conflicts of interest and asking him to make a series of commitments to mitigate them. Senator Warren is a member of the Senate Finance Committee, which will hold Dr. Oz’s confirmation hearing on Friday, March 14. The agency is responsible for administering Medicare, Medicaid, and the Affordable Care Act, which provide health care coverage for millions of Americans.
“If confirmed, you will be expected to steward CMS’s $1.5 trillion budget in the best interest of the over 140 million Americans on Medicare and Medicaid,” wrote Senator Warren. “Entering this role with financial conflicts of interest would undermine your effectiveness and the effectiveness of the programs you are slated to administer.”
Senator Warren pressed Dr. Oz to make the following commitments before his confirmation vote:
- Divest from any remaining financial interests in health-related companies or patents that he will have the power to influence,
- Recuse from matters involving his former employers and clients,
- Not lobby CMS or join the industries that depend on CMS’s work for four years after leaving office.
“By making these commitments, you would increase Americans’ trust in your ability to serve the public interest during your time at CMS — rather than the special interests of companies in your network,” wrote Senator Warren.
Dr. Oz has deep ties to companies that stand to profit from his potential decisions at CMS. He currently serves as a managing member or advisor of multiple health care and pharmaceutical firms with a financial stake in CMS policy, including how the agency sets payment rates and coverage determinations for Medicare and Medicaid.
He also uses his public platforms to promote drugs produced by pharmaceutical companies that are currently seeking expanded CMS coverage approval and that are subject to government drug negotiations that he would be responsible for conducting. Dr. Oz has also been paid to encourage his show’s viewers to enroll in Medicare Advantage, been critiqued for allegedly “promoting quack treatments and cures in the interest of personal financial gain,” and much of his current financial portfolio is invested in health care and pharmaceutical companies whose value is tied to CMS’s regulatory work.
Senator Warren pressed Dr. Oz to recuse himself from matters involving his former employers and clients. Dr. Oz has worked for numerous entities that may have business before CMS, including some that sell medical diagnostic technologies and may seek CMS’s approval of reimbursement requests for the use of their products.
Asking Dr. Oz to commit to not engage in lobbying CMS for at least four years after leaving office, Senator Warren said, “The rampant revolving door of former government leaders lobbying the agencies they once led, while their government relationships remain fresh, erodes Americans’ faith in the federal government.”
Senators Warren and Tammy Duckworth (D-Ill.) previously pressed Dr. Oz on his hostile anti-abortion record. As CMS Administrator, Dr. Oz would be in charge of Medicare, Medicaid, and Affordable Care Act (ACA) coverage, exercising broad authority over reproductive health care access.
Immediately following his nomination, Sen. Warren pressed Dr. Oz on his advocacy to eliminate Traditional Medicare and his deep financial ties to private health insurers that would benefit from that move. Sen. Warren also released a statement about President Trump’s dangerous choice to nominate the daytime talk show host to run Medicare and Medicaid for 100 million Americans.
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