Following the Senate confirmation of Mehmet Oz to be the Administrator of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS), Public Citizen Co-President Robert Weissman issued the following statement:
“In confirming Mehmet Oz for the position of Administrator of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, Republicans in the Senate continued to just be a rubber stamp for a dangerous agenda that threatens to turn back the clock on health care in America.
“In addition to having significant conflicts of interest, Oz is now poised to help enact the Trump Administration’s dangerous agenda, which seeks to strip crucial health care services through Medicare, Medicaid, and the Affordable Care Act from hundreds of millions of Americans and to use that money to give tax breaks to billionaires.
“As he showed in his confirmation hearing, Oz will also seek to further privatize Medicare, increasing the risk that seniors will receive inferior care and further threatening the long-term health of the Medicare program. We already know that privatized Medicare costs taxpayers nearly $100 billion annually in excess costs.
“Dr. Oz is joining a team of snake oil salesmen and anti-science flunkies that have already shown disdain for the American people and their health. This is yet another dark day for health care in America under Trump.”
Click here to read Public Citizen’s analysis on the impacts of expanding Medicare Advantage.
This content originally appeared on Common Dreams and was authored by Newswire Editor.