President-elect Donald Trump’s pick to lead the vast government agency that administers Medicare, Medicaid and the Affordable Care Act market — celebrity physician Mehmet Oz — recently made large investments in health, technology and food companies that would pose major conflicts of interest. .
Oz’s holdings, some shared with family, included a $600,000 stake in UnitedHealth Group, as well as shares in pharmaceutical companies with businesses in the health sector and technology companies such as Amazon. Collectively, Oz’s investments total tens of millions of dollars, according to financial disclosures he filed in his unsuccessful 2022 bid for the US Senate seat in Pennsylvania.
Trump said Tuesday that he would nominate Oz to be the administrator of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services. The agency’s scope is large: CMS oversees coverage for more than 160 million Americans, nearly half the population. Medicare only It accounts for approximately $1 billion in annual spending, with more than 67 million enrollees.
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UnitedHealth Group is one of the nation’s largest healthcare companies and arguably the most important business partner of CMS, through which it is the leading provider of commercial health plans available to Medicare beneficiaries.
UnitedHealth also offers managed care plans under Medicaid, a joint state-federal program for low-income people, and sells plans in the government-run marketplaces established by the Affordable Care Act. Oz also held smaller stakes in CVS Health, which now includes insurer Aetna, and insurer Cigna.
It is unclear whether Oz, a heart surgeon by training, still invests in health care companies, or whether he would divest his shares or otherwise try to mitigate conflicts of interest if confirmed by the Senate. Reached by phone Wednesday, he said he was in a Zoom meeting and declined to comment. Support did not respond to an email with specific questions.
“It’s clear that over the years he’s cultivated an interest in the pharmaceutical industry and the insurance industry,” said Peter Lurie, president of the Center for Science in the Public Interest. “This calls into question whether he can be trusted to act on behalf of the American people.” (KFF Health News publisher David Rousseau is on the site CSPI table.)
Oz used his TikTok page multiple times in November to criticize Trump and Robert F. Kennedy Jr. to praise, including efforts to take on the “disease-industrial complex” and tossed out “so-called experts like the big medical corporations.” giving what he called bad nutritional advice. Oz’s positions on health policy have been chameleonic; In 2010, he cut an ad He urged Californians to sign up for insurance under President Barack Obama’s Affordable Care Act, telling the audience they had a “historic opportunity.”
Oz’s 2022 financial disclosures show the TV star invested much of his wealth in health care and food companies. If he were to confirm running CMS, he would be interacting with industry giants whose work has contributed to his wealth.
Given the breadth of his investments, it would be difficult for Oz to recuse himself from issues affecting his assets, if he still holds them. “He could spend his time in a rocking chair” if that happened, Lurie said.
In the past, candidates for government office with similar potential conflicts of interest have chosen to sell or otherwise divest assets. For example, Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen and Attorney General Merrick Garland agreed to divest their stakes in major publicly traded companies when they joined the Biden administration.
Trump, however, refused in his first term to relinquish control of his companies and other assets while in office, and he does not expect to in his second term. He has not publicly expressed concern about the financial participation of subordinates.
CMS’s primary job is to administer Medicare. Half of new enrollees now choose Medicare Advantage, which offers health coverage through commercial insurers instead of the traditional government-run program. according to an analysis From KFF, non-profit health information that includes KFF Health News.
Proponents of Medicare Advantage argue that private plans offer more reliable services than government ones and better manage the costs of care. Critics say Medicare Advantage plans have a long history it costs taxpayers more than the traditional program.
UnitedHealth, CVS, and Cigna are major players in the Medicare Advantage market. It is not always a good relationship with the government. The Department of Justice filed a 2017 complaint against UnitedHealth suing the company used false information to inflate charges against the government. The case is ongoing.
Oz is a passionate proponent of Medicare Advantage. In 2020, he proposed offering Medicare Advantage to all; During his Senate term, he offered a more general commitment to expand those plans. After Trump announced Oz’s nomination for CMS, Jeffrey Singer, senior fellow at the libertarian-leaning Cato Institute, he said it was “There is no doubt that Dr. Oz is familiar with health care financing and economics.”
Singer said Oz’s Medicare Advantage proposal would require large new taxes — perhaps a 20% payroll tax — to implement.
Oz has had a mixed reception from other parts of Washington. Sen. John Fetterman of Pennsylvania, the Democrat who defeated Oz in 2022, indicated that he would potentially support his nomination for CMS. “If Dr. Oz is to protect and preserve Medicare and Medicaid, I’ll vote for him mate” he said X on the social platform.
Oz’s investments in companies that do business with the federal government don’t end with big insurers. He and his family also own shares in the hospital, according to his 2022 filing, as well as a stake in Amazon worth nearly $2.4 billion. (Candidates for federal office must disclose a broad range of values for their holdings, not a specific figure).
Amazon has an Internet pharmacy and the company announced its in June subscription service available to Medicare enrollees. Also He owns a primary care serviceOne Medical, which accepts Medicare and “select” Medicare Advantage plans.
Oz also invested directly in several large pharmaceutical companies and, through investments in venture capital funds, invested indirectly in other biotech and vaccine companies. Big Pharma has been the target of criticism and sometimes conspiracy theories from Trump and his allies. Kennedy, who 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 with drug companies over their prices. CMS initially selected 10 drugs. These drugs were accounted for collectively $50.5 billion in spending From June 1, 2022 to May 31, 2023, under the Medicare Part D prescription benefit.
At least four of those 10 drugs are manufactured by companies in which Oz owned shares, worth about $50,000.
Oz could win or lose financially with other Trump administration proposals.
For example, as of 2022, Oz has invested about $6 billion in fertility treatment providers. To counter fears that anti-abortion politicians would ban in vitro fertilization, Trump floated in his campaign free in vitro fertilization treatment. It is unclear whether the government will pay for the services.
In his TikTok videos in early November, Oz echoed the attacks on the food industry by Kennedy and others in the “Make America Healthy Again” movement. They blame the poor health of many Americans on processed foods and the industry’s neglect, a concern shared by many Democrats and mainstream experts.
But in 2022, Oz had $80,000 worth of stakes in Domino’s Pizza, Pepsi and US Foods, as well as major investments in other parts of the food chain, including cattle; Oz reported investments of $5.5 million in a farm and ranch, as well as a stake in a non-dairy milk company. He also indirectly invested in the Epic Burger restaurant chain.
One of his biggest investments was in the Pennsylvania chain of Wawa convenience stores, which sells all sorts of ultra-processed fast food and snacks. Oz and his wife reported a stake in the company beloved by many Pennsylvanians worth $30 million.
KFF Health Newsformerly known as Kaiser Health News (KHN), is a national newsroom that produces in-depth journalism on health issues and is one of the leading program operators. KFF — Independent source for health policy research, polling and journalism.
