WASHINGTON (AP) — The wealth of Dr. Mehmet Oz, the celebrity heart surgeon nominated by President Donald Trump to lead the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, has swelled in part from for-profit health care companies over which he'd wield significant power if confirmed, according to a newly filed government ethics report.
In the filing, the 64-year-old former talk show host pledged to divest from those companies within three months of confirmation and said that until then, he wouldn't participate in any matter that could affect his investments.
Oz's net worth is between $98 million and $332 million, according to an analysis of the disclosure, which lists asset values in ranges but does not give precise dollar figures. Oz shot to fame and made millions off his daytime talk show. His most recent disclosure shows he also holds millions of dollars worth of shares in health insurance, fertility, pharmaceutical and vitamin companies.
Oz said in the filing that he will sell off parts of his significant and diverse investment portfolio, which ranges from retail giants such as Walmart to tech companies such as Apple.
His roster of investments includes up to $5 million in Inception Fertility, a company with a network of fertility clinics; a maximum of $100,000 with pharmaceutical giant AbbVie; and as much as $600,000 with the nation’s largest health insurer, UnitedHealth Group. He also holds up to $5 million with Nvidia, an artificial intelligence company that outfits hospitals.
And his work as an adviser for iHerb, a website that sells health and beauty supplements, has earned Oz as much as $25 million in company stock, which he pledged to forfeit “as soon as practicable but not later than 90 days after confirmation." He indicated he would also resign from his position with the company if confirmed.
His investments touch nearly every aspect of the health care system, said Lawrence Gostin, a public health professor at Georgetown University.
“He has his fingerprints and his financing all over the health care system, from services to artificial intelligence to medical products,” Gostin said. “It seems to me that those conflicts are so intertwined in his and his families finances, I don’t know how he disentangles himself from it all.”
A spokesman for Oz did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
If confirmed by the Senate, Oz would be responsible for the programs that more than half the country relies on for health insurance: Medicaid, Medicare and the Affordable Care Act.
Medicaid provides nearly-free health care coverage to millions of the poorest children and adults in the U.S. while Medicare gives older Americans and the disabled access to health insurance. The Affordable Care Act is the Obama-era program that offers health insurance plans to millions of Americans who do not qualify for government-assisted health insurance, but do not get insurance through their employer.
As the administrator for CMS, Oz would make decisions on how the government covers procedures, hospital stays and medications in these programs and the reimbursement rates doctors and other providers get for their services.
Oz ran a failed 2022 bid to represent Pennsylvania in the U.S. Senate as a Republican. During the campaign, he called to expand Medicare Advantage, the increasingly popular version of Medicare that's run by private insurers who have been accused of defrauding the government by billions of dollars through the program.
Before his turn to politics, Oz was a renowned heart surgeon at Columbia University. He rose to fame on “The Oprah Winfrey Show” with appearances where he discussed weight-loss diets, Botox and anti-aging techniques. Eventually, he landed his own show, which was popular but attracted deep criticism from the scientific community. Some colleagues at Columbia University called for his removal over claims he made about products on TV. Senators, too, scolded him during a 2014 hearing over the weight-loss drugs he promoted
He has formed a kinship, though, with Robert F. Kennedy Jr., who was sworn in as the nation's top health official last week. Kennedy and Oz have shared concerns over pesticides and unhealthy foods.
Oz's confirmation hearing to become CMS administrator has not been scheduled.
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