President-elect Donald Trump has selected Mehmet Oz, a prominent doctor, to run the vast government agency that controls Medicare, Medicaid, and Affordable Care Act markets, but he has recently announced a serious conflict of interest. It has extensive investments in healthcare, technology, and food companies that could cause
Mr. Oz shares some of his stock holdings with his family, including up to $600,000 worth of UnitedHealth Group stock, as well as holdings in pharmaceutical companies, Amazon and other high-tech companies operating in the health care sector. Stocks were also included. Oz’s investments total tens of millions of dollars, according to financial disclosures he filed during his unsuccessful 2022 bid for the Pennsylvania Senate.
President Trump announced Tuesday that he would nominate Oz to run the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services. The scope of this institution is vast. CMS oversees insurance coverage for more than 160 million Americans, nearly half the population. Medicare alone costs about $1 trillion annually and has more than 67 million members.
UnitedHealth Group is one of the largest health care companies in the United States, perhaps the most important business partner of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, and a leading provider of commercial health plans available to Medicare beneficiaries.
UnitedHealth also offers managed care plans under Medicaid, a joint state and federal program for low-income people, a government-run marketplace established under the Affordable Care Act. We sell plans. Oz also held small stakes in CVS Health, which now includes insurance company Aetna, and insurance company Cigna.
Does Mr. Oz, a cardiac surgeon by training, still have investments in health care companies, or does he intend to reduce his conflicts of interest by selling his shares if he is approved by the Senate? is unknown. Reached by phone Wednesday, he said he was in a Zoom meeting and declined to comment.
The assistant did not respond to email messages with detailed questions.
“It’s clear that he has had an interest in the pharmaceutical industry and the insurance industry for many years,” said Peter Lurie, director of the watchdog group Center for Science in the Public Interest. “That raises the question of whether he can be trusted to act on behalf of the American people.” (David Rousseau, publisher of KFF Health News, is a member of the Public Interest Commission’s Center for Science.)
Oz used his TikTok page multiple times in November to praise President Trump and Robert F. blamed the experts. He offered what he called bad nutritional advice. Oz’s positions on health policy were chameleonic. In 2010, it cut an ad urging Californians to buy insurance under President Obama’s Affordable Care Act, telling viewers they had a “historic opportunity.”
Oz’s 2022 financial disclosures revealed that the TV star had invested a significant portion of his wealth in healthcare and food companies. If he is confirmed to run CMS, his job would include interacting with the industry titans who contributed to his wealth.
Given the breadth of his investments, it would be difficult for Oz to distance himself from issues that affect his assets, even if he still owns them. If that happens, “he might spend some time in a rocking chair,” Lurie said.
In the past, candidates for government positions with similar potential conflicts of interest have chosen to sell assets or otherwise divest themselves. For example, Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen and Mr. Atty. Gen. Merrick Garland agreed to sell his holdings in related public companies when he joined the Biden administration.
But Trump refused during his first term to relinquish control of his companies and other assets while in office, and has no plans to do so in his second term. He has not publicly expressed concerns about his subordinates’ asset holdings.
The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services’ primary job is to administer Medicare. About half of new enrollees are now choosing Medicare Advantage, which provides health insurance through private insurers rather than traditional government-run programs, according to an analysis by KFF, a medical information nonprofit that includes KFF Health. .
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Supporters of Medicare Advantage argue that private plans offer more attractive services and are better able to control health care costs than government plans. Critics say Medicare Advantage plans have a long history of costing taxpayers more than traditional programs.
UnitedHealth, CVS, and Cigna are all major players in the Medicare Advantage market. Relations with the government are not always good. The Department of Justice filed a complaint in 2017 accusing UnitedHealth of using false information to inflate its charges against the government. The case is ongoing.
Oz is a passionate supporter of Medicare Advantage. In 2020, he proposed making Medicare Advantage available to everyone. He made a more general promise to expand these programs while running for Senate. After President Trump announced Oz’s nomination to the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, Jeffrey Singer, a senior fellow at the libertarian-leaning Cato Institute, said, “It’s unclear whether Dr. Oz is well versed in health care finance or economics.” ” he said.
Mr. Singer said implementing Oz’s Medicare Advantage proposal could require significant new taxes, perhaps a 20% payroll tax.
Oz has received mixed reactions from other parts of Washington. Pennsylvania Sen. John Fetterman, the Democrat who defeated Oz in 2022, signaled he could potentially support his appointment to the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services. “If Dr. Oz cares about protecting and preserving Medicare and Medicaid, I will vote for him,” he said on social platform X.
Oz’s investments in companies that do business with the federal government go beyond major insurance companies.
In addition to owning hospital stocks, he and his family also own nearly $2.4 million worth of Amazon stock, according to his 2022 disclosure. (Candidates for federal positions must disclose a broad range of holdings, not a specific number.)
Amazon operates an internet pharmacy, and the company announced in June that its subscription service would be available to Medicare customers. It also owns One Medical, a primary care service that accepts Medicare and “select” Medicare Advantage plans.
Oz has also invested directly in several large pharmaceutical companies and indirectly in other biotech and vaccine companies through investments in venture capital funds. Big Pharma has been a frequent target of criticism and conspiracy theories from Mr. Trump and his allies. Kennedy, who President Trump has said he will nominate to be secretary of Health and Human Services, is a longtime anti-vaccine activist.
During the Biden administration, Congress gave Medicare the power to negotiate prices with drug companies. CMS initially selected 10 drugs. These drugs accounted for a total of $50.5 billion in spending from June 1, 2022 to May 31, 2023 under Medicare’s Part D prescription drug benefit.
At least four of those 10 drugs were manufactured by companies in which Mr. Oz held stock, worth about $50,000.
Oz may gain or lose financially from the Trump administration’s other proposals.
For example, as of 2022, Oz had $6 million worth of investments in fertility providers. President Trump campaigned for free IVF treatment during his campaign to counter concerns that anti-abortion politicians would ban IVF treatment. It is unclear whether the government will pay for the service.
In a TikTok video from early November, Oz echoed attacks on the food industry by Kennedy and others in the Make America Healthy Again movement. They blame processed foods and industry underregulation for the poor health of many Americans, a concern shared by many Democrats and mainstream experts.
But in 2022, Oz owned $80,000 worth of stock in Domino’s Pizza, Pepsi, and US Foods, as well as significant investments in other parts of the food chain, including cattle. Oz reported $5.5 million worth of investments in farms and livestock, as well as a stake in a non-dairy milk startup. He also indirectly invested in restaurant chain Epic Burger.
One of his biggest investments was in Wawa, a Pennsylvania-based convenience store chain that sells fast food and all kinds of ultra-processed snacks. Oz and his wife reported that their stock in the company, beloved by many Pennsylvanians, was worth $30 million.
This article was produced by KFF Health News, which publishes California Healthline, an editorially independent service of the California Health Care Foundation.
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This story originally appeared in the Los Angeles Times.
