There is a reason why there are career politicians and why they have to be aware of what they are saying or proposing to the public. Dr. Mehmet Oz however, is not a career politician who has only appeared on TV and made random controversial statements.
He is the newly appointed head of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS). On a recent visit to Fox Business, he made a comment that has sparked national outrage.
In an appearance on Kudlow, Dr. Oz suggested that Medicaid recipients should “prove that they matter.” They should fulfill work or service requirements to retain their healthcare coverage.
His comments were meant to be delivered with an idea of fiscal discipline and personal responsibility. These comments were to align with broader conservative goals to tighten public benefit programs. However, his words reflected the dangerous idea of blaming vulnerable populations for structural shortcomings.
The American ideology of pulling oneself from the bootstrap seems to be the central theme that the Trump administration has been pushing for Medicare and Medicaid. Massive cuts for Medicaid and Medicare are already part of the “big beautiful bill” of the administration.
Quick summary of the “big, beautiful bill”:
>10 million more uninsured
> 1 million low-income seniors see higher Medicare premiums & cost-sharing
~ 30% cuts to SNAP
~ $3 trillion in new debt
Makes low-income households worse off & high-income households better off. pic.twitter.com/5aitAaZDrO
— Loren Adler (@LorenAdler) May 21, 2025
Embedded within the proposed “Big Beautiful Bill,” the administration is seeking to reduce Medicaid funding by an estimated $880 billion over the next decade. These cuts would not be easy and would leave millions of Americans stranded and without any way to get medical help.
Many fiscal conservatives praise the move as a necessary budget correction. However there are bipartisan voices that are expressing alarm.
According to them, such cuts could dismantle a lifeline. One on which over 70 million relied upon. These include children, seniors, and people with disabilities.
Dr. Oz might have thought that this statement would ignite the fire in everyone’s belly; he wasn’t counting on the bridges he was burning, the hearts and minds of Americans he had set on fire.
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The Donald Trump administration’s central idea for Medicaid overhaul is the introduction of work requirements. Under the proposed legislation, able-bodied adults under 65 would be required to complete at least 80 hours a month of employment, education, caregiving, or community service to remain eligible.
Dr. Oz vocally supported this measure, emphasizing the need for individuals to “do something” to maintain their benefits. However, his statement was met with criticism that this perspective wrongly associates systemic poverty with personal failure. This will be like punishing people who are already struggling.
Cuts to Medicaid are expected to cause 7.8 million more people to be uninsured in 10 years.
Cuts to Obamacare are expected to cause 4.2 million people to be uninsured in 10 years.
But sure, let’s cut more spending because tax cuts are sacred and deficits are theoretically bad! pic.twitter.com/yXNgEXXKFh
— Hal Singer (@HalSinger) June 5, 2025
According to the Congressional Budget Office, once these requirements are implemented, more than 10 million Americans will be disqualified from medicaid in the next 10 years. There have been experiments with work mandates.
Republicans want to institute work requirements for Medicaid — and they’re willing to hold the economy hostage to do it.
The policy would be life-threatening for millions of Americans. We know because Arkansas tried it.
“I would be dead,” one Medicaid recipient told us. pic.twitter.com/AbEPBBwfwQ
— More Perfect Union (@MorePerfectUS) May 19, 2023
One such was in Arkansas. As a result thousands of people lost their coverage not due to lack of efforts but due to confusions related to paperwork, requirements, rules and poor communications.
Health experts warn the new policy could lead to a repeat of these administrative failures on a national scale.
Dr. Oz has defended the reform as a necessary modernization of Medicaid. He has noted that the program was created in 1965 and lacked any personal accountability at its inception. His argument is that times have changed and so has the economy. He argued that this shift is about promoting dignity and sustainability in public health programs.
