Ron Wyden Accuses Dr. Oz To His Face Of Promoting 'Ludicrous Wellness Grifting'

3/14/2025

At a Senate Finance Committee hearing on Friday, Sen. Ron Wyden (D-OR) spoke about the nomination and candidacy of Dr. Mehmet Oz to run CMS.

Fuel your success with Forbes. Gain unlimited access to premium journalism, including breaking news, groundbreaking in-depth reported stories, daily digests and more. Plus, members get a front-row seat at members-only events with leading thinkers and doers, access to premium video that can help you get ahead, an ad-light experience, early access to select products including NFT drops and more:

https://account.forbes.com/membership/?utm_source=youtube&utm_medium=display&utm_campaign=growth_non-sub_paid_subscribe_ytdescript

Stay Connected
Forbes on Facebook: http://fb.com/forbes
Forbes Video on Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/forbes
Forbes Video on Instagram: http://instagram.com/forbes
More From Forbes: http://forbes.com

Transcript

00:00Ranking Member Senator Wyden for his opening remarks. Thank you very much Mr. Chairman.

00:05Our nominee would oversee the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services

00:11and be responsible for the health and well-being of over 160 million Americans.

00:17Now once again, Finance Committee investigators start the process by bringing the receipts.

00:25Dr. Oz is the second Trump nominee to come before the committee this year

00:30with a record of dodging Medicare and Social Security taxes. This tax loophole hurts Medicare

00:38and has benefited Dr. Oz by $440,000 in the last three years. Now the doctor will testify

00:50about his concern for Medicare's well-being, yet he is unwilling to pay the same taxes

01:00that millions of Americans pay out of every paycheck. So what that means is the person

01:08who's nominated to run Medicare thinks that it's acceptable to not pay his taxes into Social

01:16Security and Medicare like nurses and firefighters do out of every paycheck. That's number one.

01:24Number two, the nominee has been a big promoter of private for-profit health insurance that too

01:32often displays little interest in protecting older people who enroll in these plans. And I have seen

01:39it as the former director of the Oregon Gray Panthers. So on our side we're especially concerned

01:45that seniors signing up for these plans are being lured by deceptive marketing and too-good-to-be-true

01:51benefit packages. Then they get walloped by business practices that often delay and deny care.

01:59When he ran for the Senate, Dr. Oz proposed putting all seniors into private Medicare

02:05Advantage plans, leaving traditional Medicare, which serves almost half the Medicare population,

02:13those folks, their coverage would just wither on the vine. Traditional Medicare. Dr. Oz has

02:20demonstrated no interest at all in improving traditional Medicare for the 34 million Americans

02:25that count on this program. That'll be a big priority for us going forward. Dr. Oz has made a

02:31lucrative career out of advertising these for-profit insurance options, targeting seniors with shady

02:36marketing tactics on his television program. He even went so far as to sign up to be an insurance

02:43salesman himself. Dr. Oz has used this program to promote some of the most ludicrous wellness

02:50grifting that I've heard about to date. Green coffee extract, raspberry ketones, supplements

02:57for cancer prevention. Several weeks ago this committee heard a slew of similarly misleading

03:03claims from another unqualified Trump nominee. Now our country is facing the biggest measles outbreak

03:11in decades, while the Trump administration touts the benefits of cod liver oil and terrifies parents

03:18about vaccinating their kids. Meanwhile, Donald Trump, Elon Musk, and congressional Republicans

03:26are gearing up to deal the biggest blow to Medicaid in history. These cuts to Medicaid

03:31are going to be devastating for adults and those with disabilities. It could destroy care and

03:37nursing homes as we know it, and it's going to mean ripping health insurance away from millions of

03:41families struggling to get by. So if confirmed, Dr. Oz is going to be responsible for executing

03:49whatever destruction is brought down on the Medicaid program by the cuts Republicans are

03:54preparing to make. He would be responsible for the premium hikes for families who purchase their own

03:59health insurance through the Affordable Care Act. Dr. Oz would be in charge of these programs. He'd

04:05be calling the shots about what gets cut and what stays. He'd be the one to allow or stop

04:12any attempts by Elon Musk and his doge brigade to control Medicare and Medicaid payment systems.

04:19Meanwhile, Republicans and those like Dr. Oz are all too happy to ignore the predatory tactics for

04:26for-profit insurers that they use to deny and delay care for patients who are trying just

04:35to get decent and good quality care. Families across the country want to know that their

04:40health care is going to be protected and that premiums are affordable. Instead, Republicans

04:45march ahead with plans to take an axe to health insurance. They want to put for-profit insurance

04:51companies and private equity firms that make money off denying and delaying coverage in the

04:56driver's seat of America's health care. That's not what the American people voted for. It's not what

05:04they deserve. Based on the evidence I've just laid out, the American people have a variety of reasons

05:10to believe Dr. Oz will be fully on board with the Trump and Republican effort to cut Medicaid

05:16and to coddle the for-profit insurance companies. Today's hearing is an opportunity for Dr. Oz

05:23to show the committee otherwise. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.

Ron Wyden Accuses Dr. Oz To His Face Of Promoting 'Ludicrous Wellness Grifting'

Category

Transcript

Recommended