'Disqualifying': Maggie Hassan Drops The Hammer On Dr. Oz, Trashes His Nomination

3 days ago

At a Senate Finance Committee hearing on Tuesday, Sen. Maggie Hassan (D-NH) spoke about the nomination of Dr. Oz.

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Transcript

00:00Next is Senator Hassan. Well, thank you, Mr. Chair and Ranking Member Wyden for this markup

00:06and this opportunity to discuss the serious implications of having Dr. Oz oversee healthcare

00:12for more than 160 million Americans. First of all, Dr. Oz has shown a dangerous willingness

00:18to say or do anything that President Trump directs him to do. And during his hearing,

00:24Dr. Oz refused to commit to following the law in the event that President Trump directs him to do

00:31something illegal. That failure to commit is disqualifying. If confirmed, Dr. Oz would also

00:38be tasked with implementing the devastating cuts to Medicaid proposed by congressional Republicans,

00:44which could lead to as many as 30,000 children in my state losing their health insurance.

00:50Granite staters want Congress to increase access to healthcare, not a budget plan that would take

00:57healthcare away from children, seniors in nursing homes, and thousands of people living in rural

01:04areas of my state. Dr. Oz is one of several Trump administration nominees that say that they

01:11recognize the real difference that Medicaid and other health programs make, and yet they are

01:16joining an administration and are supported by congressional Republicans who plan to slash the

01:22health coverage and programs that people rely on. In my state, that includes parents that I just met

01:29yesterday of a young man with autism whose healthcare is provided by both Medicaid and

01:34Medicare and would not be able to obtain private insurance otherwise. It's also my constituent up

01:43in the north country over the last week expressed her concern that her twins with severe disabilities

01:50would also be pushed off of Medicaid, leaving her and her family without access to critical care

01:56for them. Finally, I will note that a number of states, including my state of New Hampshire,

02:02has something called a trigger law that applies to its Medicaid expansion program.

02:07Should the degree of federal funding for Medicaid expansion, which among other things provides

02:14critical mental health care and addiction treatment, should that go below 90 percent,

02:20which was the federal commitment for Medicaid expansion, 10 states in this country will

02:26automatically lose Medicaid expansion. So the implications here are real, they are serious,

02:34and Dr. Oz's assertion that he cares about Medicaid, that he understands how important

02:42it is, is belied by his unwillingness, as Senator Cantwell pointed out, to commit

02:47to protecting the Medicaid program and his willingness to join this administration.

02:53I urge my colleagues to join me in opposing the confirmation of Dr. Oz. Thank you.

02:58Thank you, Senator.

'Disqualifying': Maggie Hassan Drops The Hammer On Dr. Oz, Trashes His Nomination

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