At a hearing on Friday, the senators pushed Dr. Mehmet Oz, the celebrity celebrity set to direct Medicare and Medicaid, in proposals under the leadership of the Republicans that would significantly affect healthcare for almost all Americans.
At the hearing of confirmation before the Senate Finance Committee, Dr. Oz Banterned with senators in a friendly atmosphere, joking about basketball and subjugation to college groups. He has gone a great deal of harsh questions on each side of the corridor, presenting his charm in the air, as he excluded the most intense worries of democrats about potential radical changes in health coverage not only for 65 and older but also for poor children.
Many senators seemed fragmented by the intense debate over the Republican budget agreement to prevent the government from stopping and dug and out of the hearing of Dr. Oz. But he is ready to sail through the Senate for confirmation to the next Medicare and Medicaid Services centers, a $ 1.5 trillion organization in spending.
Senator Elizabeth Warren, Democrat of Massachusetts, made a big one of his financial conflict before the hearing. But at the meeting, he did not put him on these issues. Instead, he focused on his views on whether the private plans Medicare overload the government, an area where it and Dr. Oz appeared to agree on the need to deal with possible fraud and waste.
Throughout the hearing, he presented an easy knowledge of a variety of relevant service issues, although he repeatedly returned to stocks that would need to study the subject more.
Several legislators, mainly Democrats, have tried to force Dr. Oz to express his views on the goals of Trump’s administration to reduce healthcare costs and service budgets, but repeatedly violated these drugs.
“It is our patriotic duty to be healthy,” the senators told the senators. “It costs a lot of money to take care of sick people who are sick because of lifestyle choices.”
This rejection is aligned with Make America Healthy and again a move defended by Robert F. Kennedy Jr., the new secretary of the Ministry of Health and Human Services and Dr. Oz for short to confirm.
Medicare Advantage and privatization
Introductory observations by Senator Ron Wyden, a Democratic of Oregon, had an initial promise of certain provocative questions. He accused Dr. Oz of avoiding nearly $ 500,000 in social security taxes and Medicare in recent years using a tax exemption associated with limited corporate relations, something Democrats ended up after a review of Dr. Oz. But there were no consequence questions about it.
Mr Wyden also set the ghost that he was going to bake Dr. Oz about his connection to Tz Insurance Solutions, a speculative company selling Medicare Advantage designs to elderly Americans. Dr. Oz was a relentless supporter of these private plans, criticized by legislators and regulators for systematically excessive and refusing patient care, on the YouTube show and channel.
Dr. Oz, 64 years old, is also a registered broker for TZ insurance in states across the country, according to a recent New York Times investigation. Again, Mr Wyden noted the subject and did not attend.
Despite the Democrats’ concerns that Dr. Oz will probably restore some of the rules intended for the plans, he committed to strong supervision. He acknowledged that some of the brokers who were now selling these plans were “waiting policies”, changing people from one plan to another, regardless of whether the change in their coverage benefited.
“Part of this is just recognizing that there is a new sheriff in the city,” said Dr. Oz. “We really have to go after places and areas where we do not manage the money of American peoples well.”
Many times at the hearing, Dr. Oz has addressed diplomatic concerns about whether Medicare Advantage plans are overly paid. In response to questions from a colleague of doctor, Senator Bill Cassidy, a Republican of Louisiana, Dr. Oz reported a study suggesting that the federal government spends more on the private alternative to Medicare by the government program. “It’s upside down,” he said.
“We need to consider if some of the money should be returned to the American people,” Dr. Oz said.
He also expressed interest in resolving some of the bilateral concerns about the use of the previous authorization by insurers for the approval of medical procedures by reducing the number of services subject to a review.
Republican plans to reduce Medicaid
The Democrats seemed more frustrated by Dr. Oz’s attitude towards Medicaid, the state federal program covering 72 million low -income Americans. “All my colleagues want to know, are you going to cut Medicaid?” He asked Senator Maria Cantwell, a Democratic of Washington.
But Dr. Oz, who has not talked much about the program that will also oversee as head of the organization, did not respond immediately. He said he did not know the details of the debate on the democratic budget, in which legislators are considering hundreds of billions of dollars in cuts that could lead to people’s loss of coverage, as it became more difficult to register and the states had to be more burdened.
When Senator Raphael Warnock, a Democrat of Georgia, was asked about democratic efforts to add ongoing monthly bureaucratic work for some people to show that they should receive benefits, Dr. Oz said he favored the job requirements that the Republicans want to do. But he agreed with the senator to make sure that the people who need to be eligible for Medicaid had not been cut.
Dr. Oz and the Completion Business
There were other issues that senators seemed to be removed. For example, Dr. Oz has made tens of millions of dollars over the years promoting nutritional supplements, often without any reference to his financial interest. It has been paid by numerous medical and health companies to promote their products. Many of these companies will be influenced by any decisions he will make as administrator for Medicare and Medicaid Services centers and many are already benefiting from funding.
Senator Maggie Hassan, a Democrat of New Humsire, asked him to put a dollar on exactly what he has done from promoting supplements on his television show. He said that nothing was paid. He began to explain that Sony Pictures distributed the show and that it was the entity paid by these companies (which in turn paid him), but was cut. In the end, Mrs Hassan was unable to extract anything important from him and proceeded.
Patient privacy and the penetration of the dog
During the hearing, Mr Wyden pressed Dr. Oz on the access granted to the so -called Elon Musk government efficiency department to American private medical information. Mr Wyden has expressed concerns about the need to protect people’s privacy, given the possible ability of the department to see personal health and medical data. Despite his repeated questions, he said, Trump’s administration had not addressed these concerns so far. Paradoxically, Dr. Oz said he had no discussions with the administration about what Mr Musk’s team did as he inspected the service information, but promised to “face what was going on”.
Measles
The measles epidemic in Texas and New Mexico has increased concerns and leveled significant criticism of Mr Kennedy’s response and Trump’s administration. Senator Ben Ray Luján, a Democrat of New Mexico, asked Dr. Oz if he believed that the measles vaccine was safe. Dr. Oz said he did it, but when the senator followed to ask if he was effective, Dr. Oz returned and said that the crisis of individual vaccines and their recommendations for use would not be under his competence, but under those of the control centers and prevention centers.
“My job, if confirmed, is to make sure we pay for these vaccines,” he said.
