Warren, Wyden Slam Trump Health Nominee Dr. Oz for Medicare Tax Avoidance
Dr. Mehmet Oz, who would oversee Medicare as CMS head, appears to have avoided paying over $400,000 in Medicare taxes over past three tax years
“If you are unwilling to pay your legal and fair share of taxes into Medicare, there is little reason to believe you will be a good steward of the program for the tens of millions of seniors and people with disabilities who rely on it.”
Washington, D.C. – U.S. Senators Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), member of the Senate Finance Committee, and Ron Wyden (D-Ore.), Ranking Member of the Senate Finance Committee, slammed Dr. Mehmet Oz, President Trump’s nominee for the Administrator of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS), for his reported Medicare tax avoidance following his confirmation hearing last week. As head of CMS, Dr. Oz would oversee Medicare — the same agency he has potentially defunded by reportedly avoiding hundreds of thousands of dollars in Medicare and Social Security taxes in the past few years.
“If you are unwilling to pay your legal and fair share of taxes into Medicare, there is little reason to believe you will be a good steward of the program for the tens of millions of seniors and people with disabilities who rely on it,” wrote the lawmakers.
A recent review of Dr. Oz’s financial records by Senate Finance Committee staff revealed that he appeared to have avoided over $400,000 in Medicare taxes over the past three tax years by improperly claiming “limited partner” status in his own company, which provided him with an exemption from the Medicare tax. When approached by the Finance Committee and offered the chance to amend his tax returns to bring them in line with the positions of the IRS, Treasury Department, and the Tax Court, Dr. Oz refused.
“Medicare is funded by the tax contributions of millions of hardworking Americans. Yet, you misused a tax loophole to avoid paying your fair share,” wrote the lawmakers.
Medicare provides vital and lifesaving services for nearly 70 million Americans. As nearly all Americans eventually enroll in Medicare, nearly all working Americans are required to pay a portion of their income in Medicare tax. For the vast majority of Americans who receive a paycheck from their employer, this contribution is automatically removed from their paychecks. But for wealthy individuals like Dr. Oz who receive income from partnerships, they pay Medicare taxes by appropriately documenting and designating income and paying the required 3.8% of their income in accordance with federal law. It appears that Dr. Oz failed to do so.
The lawmakers requested that Dr. Oz answer a series of questions regarding this apparent tax avoidance prior to any Senate Finance Committee vote on his nomination, including whether he will commit to paying the IRS the full amount of taxes he has seemingly avoided, whether he will commit to making his tax filings from the last five years public, and whether or not he believes that Americans have the right to refuse to pay their Medicare taxes as required by federal law.
Senator Warren has scrutinized Dr. Oz through his confirmation process for his conflicts of interest and his anti-abortion views:
- In March 2025, Senator Elizabeth Warren wrote to Dr. Oz ahead of his Senate Finance Committee confirmation hearing, demanding answers to questions about his plan to eliminate Traditional Medicare, his serious conflicts of interest, his dangerous anti-abortion views, and more.
- In March 2025, Senator Warren wrote to Dr. Oz, criticizing his serious conflicts of interest and asking him to make a series of commitments to mitigate them.
- In February 2025, Senator Warren and Tammy Duckworth (D-Ill.) criticized Dr. Oz’s 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.
- In December 2024, Following his nomination, Senator Warren pressed the nominee on his advocacy to eliminate Traditional Medicare and his deep financial ties to private health insurers that would benefit from that move.
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