CMS nominee Dr. Oz faces tough questions on taxes and Medicare in confirmation hearing

Mehmet Oz, MD, MBA © doctoroz.com

Mehmet Oz, MD, MBA, President Donald J. Trump’s nominee to lead the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS), defended his record and vision for the agency during a Senate Finance Committee hearing Friday, addressing concerns about Medicare solvency, Medicaid cuts, and his personal tax history.

If confirmed, Oz would serve under Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. to oversee the federal agency responsible for Medicare, Medicaid, the Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP), and the Health Insurance Marketplace.

Despite the weight of the issues at stake, the hearing was more lighthearted than past confirmations of Trump administration nominees, with senators and Oz sharing jokes.

When pressed by Senate Finance Committee Ranking Member Ron Wyden (D-Oregon) to visit a rural Oregon county to see the impact of Medicaid firsthand, Oz replied, “If confirmed, I commit to visiting with you — if you’ll teach me your jump shot,” drawing laughs from the room.

Oz’s vision for CMS

Oz, a best-selling author, Emmy-Award-winning television host, and UPenn-trained cardiothoracic surgeon, laid out his priorities for the agency, emphasizing patient empowerment, provider incentives, and fraud prevention. “We have a generational opportunity to fix our health care system and help people stay healthy longer,” he said.

Later in the hearing, Oz proposed leveraging artificial intelligence (AI) to reduce administrative burdens on doctors, expanding transparency tools for beneficiaries, and modernizing fraud detection efforts to extend the solvency of the Medicare trust fund.

Tax concerns and Medicare solvency

Oz faced scrutiny over his tax practices from multiple senators. A memo prepared by Democratic staff on the Senate Finance Committee, and obtained by CNN, alleged that Oz “significantly underpaid his Social Security and Medicare taxes” in recent years. According to the memo, Oz paid “negligible” Social Security or Medicare taxes in 2022 and none in 2023 — avoiding $440,000 in levies.

Sen. Wyden seized on the issue in his opening statement, stating, “What that means is the person who is nominated to run Medicare thinks that it’s acceptable not to pay his taxes into Social Security and Medicare, like nurses and firefighters do out of every paycheck.”

A spokesperson for Oz pushed back on the claim, asserting that he was in compliance with the law. According to CNN, Oz’s accountant told the committee’s Democratic staff that Oz was relying on the “limited partner exception,” which allows certain income to be excluded from self-employment earnings. However, Democrats argued that because Oz was actively involved in the media company that bears his name, his tax position was “counter to the position of the Department of Treasury.”

In the hearing, Committee Chairman Mike Crapo (R-Idaho) defended Oz, stating that he “provided significant amounts of documentation” to substantiate his tax return positions and had met the same due diligence standard applied to nominees in every previous administration.

Medicaid and private insurance

Democratic senators raised concerns about potential Medicaid cuts and Oz’s past advocacy for private Medicare Advantage plans. Wyden criticized Oz for previously proposing that all seniors be enrolled in Medicare Advantage, arguing that it would “leave traditional Medicare, which serves almost half the Medicare population… to just wither on the vine.”

Oz did not commit to opposing Medicaid cuts but emphasized his general desire to strengthen the program. “The way you protect Medicaid is by making sure that it’s viable at every level,” he said.

What’s next

Oz’s nomination now moves toward a committee vote, with his confirmation expected to largely follow party lines. While his celebrity status brought a unique dynamic to the hearing — including questions about his history of promoting “unproven snake oil remedies” to his millions of TV viewers — Oz’s policy positions, particularly on Medicare and Medicaid, will define the road ahead.

As the nominee to lead an agency overseeing health care for more than 160 million Americans, Oz assured senators that he would work “tirelessly to ensure CMS provides Americans access to superb care.” Whether his vision aligns with the Senate’s remains to be seen.