Amanda Seitz and Brian Slodisco
WASHINGTON (AP) – Dr. Mehmet Oz, a celebrity cardiac surgeon appointed by President Donald Trump to lead the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, has swelled from his key for-profit healthcare companies. Ta. If confirmed, according to the newly submitted government ethics report.
The filing states that the 64-year-old former talk show host has pledged to sell from those companies within three months of confirmation and will not participate in any issues that could affect his investment until then. I did.
OZ’s net worth ranges between $98 million and $332 million, according to an analysis of disclosures that lists the value of assets in the range but does not provide accurate dollar figures. Oz gained fame and fired, creating millions of people from his daytime talk shows. According to his latest disclosures, he also holds millions of dollars worth of stakes in health insurance, infertility, pharmaceutical companies and vitamin companies.
In his filing, Oz said he would sell some of his important and diverse investment portfolio, ranging from retail giants such as Walmart to tech companies such as Apple.
His investment roster includes up to $5 million from Inception Inception Fertility, a company with a network of fertility clinics. Up to $100,000 with the huge Abbvie drug. And up to $600,000 at UnitedHealth Group, the country’s largest health insurance company. He also owns up to $5 million with Nvidia, an artificial intelligence company that wears hospital clothes.
And his job as an advisor to Iherb, a website selling health and beauty supplements, has earned OZ $25 million. He also indicated that he would resign from his position with the company if confirmed.
Lawrence Gostin, a professor of public health at Georgetown University, said his investment touches on almost every aspect of the healthcare system.
“He raises funds for his fingerprints and the entire healthcare system, from services to artificial intelligence to medical products,” Gostin says. “These conflicts seem to be intertwined with his and his family’s finances. I don’t know how he will unleash it.”
The OZ spokesman did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
If confirmed by the Senate, OZ is responsible for programs in which more than half of the country relies on health insurance, Medicaid, Medicare and Affordable Care Acts.
Medicaid offers almost free health insurance to millions of poor children and adults in the United States, while Medicare offers access to older Americans and disabled health insurance. The Affordable Care Act is an Obama-era program that offers health insurance plans to millions of Americans who are not eligible for government-supported health insurance but are not insured through their employers.
As CMS administrator, OZ makes decisions about the procedures in these programs, hospital stays, how to cover medications, and how doctors and other healthcare providers will obtain for services .
Oz failed his 2022 bid to represent Pennsylvania in the US Senate as a Republican. During the campaign, he called out to expand Medicare advantage. This is an increasingly popular Medicare Medicare run by private insurance companies accused of scaming governments only billions of dollars through the program.
Before his turn to politics, Oz was a well-known cardiac surgeon at Columbia University. He rose to fame with The Oprah Winfrey Show, discussing weight loss diet, Botox and anti-aging techniques. Eventually, he landed his own show, which was popular, but attracted deep criticism from the scientific community. Some Columbia University colleagues called for him to remove him over allegations he made on television about the product. The senator also olded him at a 2014 hearing over the weight loss pills he promoted.
However, he formed a kinship last week with Robert F. Kennedy Jr., who was sworn in as the country’s best health officer. Kennedy and Oz share concerns about pesticides and unhealthy foods.
No OZ confirmation hearings to become CMS administrator have been scheduled.
Original issue: February 20, 2025, 6:18pm EST
