Dr. Mehmet Oz, administrator of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, said Thursday that healthcare lobbyists are at the forefront of the "false narratives" being driven about the "big, beautiful bill's" impact on Medicaid, telling Newsmax that eliminating waste, fraud, and abuse hurts special interest groups.
Oz joined Newsmax's "National Report" to dispel two myths in particular that lobbyists are spreading about the funding megabill "to protect their special interests," Oz said, adding, "much of these false narrative insights come from looking at what the real motivating factors are."
"There's a push from some that say, Hey, this isn't helping rural America. Rural America needs to be protected. We need to have all these so-called provider taxes included in our health economy. Not true," Oz said. "These provider taxes are legalized money laundering. And guess who gets to use them? It's the most connected hospitals, hospitals who have strong lobbyists and connections to state government and state leaders. Who gets left behind? Rural hospitals. Only 5% of these provider taxes go to rural hospitals.
"Another narrative ... is this belief that we're actually going to reduce spending on Medicaid. There is no scenario, not in this bill, not in any that I've seen, where we're not spending more money on Medicaid, in fact, about $200 billion more on Medicaid," Oz said.
"But here's the deal: We don't have a stable system anymore. Medicaid expenses have gone up 50% in the last five years. So we should spend more as needed to take care of Americans. But we shouldn't blow it up with another trillion dollars thrown at a problem that we're not addressing adequately with the money we're already investing in these issues," he added.
For that reason, Oz said he supports the work requirement for Medicaid.
"If you push people to try to get a job or volunteer in their community or play some active role in engaging with life so that they actually feel like they have agency over their future, they're going to take that deal," Oz said. "And we're saying, if you don't want to do that, you probably shouldn't get free health insurance from Medicaid either. We need to push folks into the workforce. We've got twice as many jobs as people who want them."
In Thursday's wide-ranging interview, Oz also touched on announcements this week by General Mills and Kraft Heinz about their plans to remove artificial food dyes.
"It's a massive advance for the many forces who believe that we have made it hard to be healthy in America. ... Why should we have products in American foods that aren't allowed in other countries? Just because you haven't proven that it's dangerous, we shouldn't assume that it's OK," he said.
Oz also reacted to Wednesday's report that U.S. Dietary Guidelines are expected to eliminate the long-standing recommendation that adults limit alcohol consumption to one or two drinks per day.
"So here's the message: Don't start drinking if you're not, because you're better off not drinking. But if you're drinking a little bit, the amounts that you mentioned, it's fine, in particular because it gets you to talk to other people," Oz said. "But the real longevity benefit is being in community, recognizing that we're all connected and we gotta deal with each other, good or bad. When you talk to other people, you're going to be, I think, happier in life, but you'll probably live longer, too."
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Mark Swanson ✉
Mark Swanson, a Newsmax writer and editor, has nearly three decades of experience covering news, culture and politics.
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