TVs Dr. Oz Invested in Businesses Regulated by Agency Trump Wants Him To Lead

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3 months ago

November 26, 2024

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President-elect Donald Trumps choice to run the sprawling government agency that administers Medicare, Medicaid, and the Affordable Care Act marketplace celebrity doctor Mehmet Oz recently held broad investments in health care, tech, and food companies that would pose significant conflicts of interest. Use Our Content

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Ozs holdings, some shared with family, included a stake in UnitedHealth Group worth as much as $600,000, as well as shares of pharmaceutical firms and tech companies with business in the health care sector, such as Amazon. Collectively, Ozs investments total tens of millions of dollars, according to financial disclosures he filed during his failed 2022 run for a Pennsylvania U.S. Senate seat.

Trump said Tuesday he would nominate Oz as administrator of the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services. The agencys scope is huge: CMS oversees coverage for more than 160 million Americans, nearly half the population. Medicare alone accounts for approximately $1 trillion in annual spending, with over 67 million enrollees.

UnitedHealth Group is one of the largest health care companies in the nation 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, the joint state-federal program for low-income people, and sells plans on government-run marketplaces set up via the Affordable Care Act. Oz also had smaller stakes in CVS Health, which now includes the insurer Aetna, and in the insurer Cigna. Email Sign-Up

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It’s not clear if Oz, a heart surgeon by training, still holds investments in health care companies, or if he would divest his shares or otherwise seek to mitigate conflicts of interest should he be confirmed by the Senate. Reached by phone on Wednesday, he said he was in a Zoom meeting and declined to comment. An assistant did not reply to an email message with detailed questions.

Its obvious that over the years hes cultivated an interest in the pharmaceutical industry and the insurance industry, said Peter Lurie, president of the Center for Science in the Public Interest, a watchdog group. That raises a question of whether he can be trusted to act on behalf of the American people. (The publisher of KFF Health News, David Rousseau, is on the CSPI board.)

Oz used his TikTok page on multiple occasions in November to praise Trump and Robert F. Kennedy Jr., including their efforts to take on the illness-industrial complex, and he slammed so-called experts like the big medical societies for dishing out what he called bad nutritional advice. Ozs positions on health policy have been chameleonic; in 2010, he cut an ad urging Californians to sign up for insurance under President Barack Obamas Affordable Care Act, telling viewers they had a historic opportunity.

Ozs 2022 financial disclosures show that the television star invested a substantial part of his wealth in health care and food firms. Were he confirmed to run CMS, his job would involve interacting with giants of the industry that have contributed to his wealth.

Given the breadth of his investments, it would be difficult for Oz to recuse himself from matters 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, nominees for government positions with similar potential conflicts of interest have chosen to sell the assets or otherwise divest themselves. For instance, Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen and Attorney General Merrick Garland agreed to divest their holdings in relevant, publicly traded companies when they joined the Biden administration.

Trump, however, declined in his first term to relinquish control of his own companies and other assets while in office, and he isnt expected to do so in his second term. He has not publicly indicated concern about his subordinates financial holdings.

CMS main job is to administer Medicare. About half of new enrollees now choose Medicare Advantage, in which commercial insurers provide their health coverage, instead of the traditional, government-run program, according to an analysis from KFF, a health information nonprofit that includes KFF Health News.

Proponents of Medicare Advantage say the private plans offer more compelling services than the government and better manage the costs of care. Critics note that Medicare Advantage plans have a long history of costing taxpayers more than the traditional program.

UnitedHealth, CVS, and Cigna are all substantial players in the Medicare Advantage market. Its not always a good relationship with the government. The Department of Justice filed a 2017 complaint against UnitedHealth alleging the company used false information to inflate charges to the government. The case is ongoing.

Oz is an enthusiastic proponent of Medicare Advantage. In 2020, he proposed offering Medicare Advantage to all; during his Senate run, he offered a more general pledge to expand those plans. After Trump announced Ozs nomination for CMS, Jeffrey Singer, a senior fellow at the libertarian-leaning Cato Institute, said he was uncertain about Dr. Ozs familiarity with health care financing and economics.

Singer said Ozs Medicare Advantage proposal could require large new taxes perhaps a 20% payroll tax to implement.

Oz has gotten a mixed reception from elsewhere in Washington. Pennsylvania Sen. John Fetterman, the Democrat who defeated Oz in 2022, signaled hed potentially support his appointment to CMS. If Dr. Oz is about protecting and preserving Medicare and Medicaid, Im voting for the dude, he said on the social platform X.

Ozs investments in companies doing business with the federal government dont end with big insurers. He and his family also hold hospital stocks, according to his 2022 disclosure, as well as a stake in Amazon worth as much as nearly $2.4 million. (Candidates for federal office are required to disclose a broad range of values for their holdings, not a specific figure.)

Amazon operates an internet pharmacy, and the company announced in June that its subscription service is available to Medicare enrollees. It also owns a primary care service, One Medical, that accepts Medicare and select Medicare Advantage plans.

Oz was also directly invested in several large pharmaceutical companies and, through investments in venture capital funds, indirectly invested in other biotech and vaccine firms. Big Pharma has been a frequent target of criticism and sometimes conspiracy theories from Trump and his allies. Kennedy, whom Trump has said hell nominate to be Health and Human Services secretary, is a longtime anti-vaccine activist.

During the Biden administration, Congress gave Medicare authority to negotiate with drug companies over their prices. CMS initially selected 10 drugs. Those drugs collectively accounted for $50.5 billion in spending between June 1, 2022, and May 31, 2023, under Medicares Part D prescription drug benefit.

At least four of those 10 medications are manufactured by companies in which Oz held stock, worth as much as about $50,000.

Oz may gain or lose financially from other Trump administration proposals.

For example, as of 2022, Oz held investments worth as much as $6 million in fertility treatment providers. To counter fears that politicians who oppose abortion would ban in vitro fertilization, Trump floated during his campaign making in vitro fertilization treatment free. Its unclear whether the government would pay for the services.

In his TikTok videos from earlier in November, Oz echoed attacks on the food industry by Kennedy and other figures in his Make America Healthy Again movement. They blame processed foods and underregulation of the industry for the poor health of many Americans, concerns shared by many Democrats and more mainstream experts.

But in 2022, Oz owned stakes worthas much as $80,000 in Dominos Pizza, Pepsi, and US Foods, as well as more substantial investments in other parts of the food chain, including cattle; Oz reported investments worth as much as $5.5 million in a farm and livestock, as well as a stake in a dairy-free milk startup. He was also indirectly invested in the restaurant chain Epic Burger.

One of his largest investments was in the Pennsylvania-based convenience store chain Wawa, which sells fast food and all manner of ultra-processed snacks. Oz and his wife reported a stake in the company, beloved by many Pennsylvanians, worth as much as $30 million.

Darius Tahir: DariusT@kff.org, @dariustahir Related Topics Elections Health Industry Insurance Medicare CMS Medicare Advantage Pennsylvania Trump Administration Contact Us Submit a Story Tip

Entertainment

Princess Eugenie posts tribute to ‘special friend’ Michelle Trachtenberg

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2 hours ago

February 27, 2025

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Princess Eugenie posts tribute to 'special friend' Michelle Trachtenberg

Princess Eugenie has posted a tribute to Michelle Trachtenberg after the actress’s death.

The Gossip Girl and Buffy the Vampire Slayer star, 39, was found dead at her home in New York City on Wednesday.

An investigation into her death has been opened but “criminality is not suspected”, police said.

In a post on Instagram today, Princess Eugenie thanked Trachtenberg for “so many memories”.

“Goodbye special friend. You are so loved and missed,” she wrote.

“Thank you for so many memories of laughter and fun. You were so thoughtful and generous and sooo funny.

“My favourite was listening to you order food, always done with precision so you got exactly what we all wanted.

“I’m thinking of you up there friend, of your spirit that was so bright and your joy you brought to so many.”

Eugenie previously lived in New York and in 2013, she was seen attending a basketball game at Madison Square Garden with Trachtenberg.

The actress shared numerous social media updates featuring the princess over the years and in 2020, she hailed her as “one of the most dearest, kindest, most genuine friends I have ever had in my life”.

Trachtenberg was best known for playing Dawn Summers in Buffy, the younger sister of the title character played by Sarah Michelle Gellar, and starring as Georgina Sparks in Gossip Girl.

Paying tribute to her co-star, Gellar shared a series of pictures of herself and Trachtenberg, alongside a caption referencing a scene from the drama.

“Michelle listen to me. Listen. I love you. I will always love you. The hardest thing in this world, is to live in it. I will be brave. I will live… for you,” she wrote.

A number of Trachtenberg’s Gossip Girl co-stars have also shared tributes on social media, with Blake Lively writing on Instagram: “Everything she did, she did 200%.”

Lively, who starred as Serena van der Woodsen in the teen drama, continued: “She laughed the fullest at someone’s joke, she faced authority head on when she felt something was wrong, she cared deeply about her work, she was proud to be a part of this community and industry as painful as it could be sometimes, she was fiercely loyal to her friends and brave for those she loved, she was big and bold and distinctly herself.”

Taylor Momsen, Gossip Girl’s Jenny Humphrey, said: “I will miss you everyday my love.”

“I’ll miss our late night calls that no one should ever hear but us,” she wrote. “She was always in my corner and there to support me whether I was right or wrong. I think we truly understood each other and I am so grateful to have had a friend like you in my life for so long.”

“Michelle was one of a kind,” wrote fellow Gossip Girl star Chace Crawford. “I remember her coming on set for the first time and just absolutely owning it.

“She was a force of nature and just so so unapologetically funny and magnetic.. remembering those years with a big smile. Just a terrible loss. Love you.”

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World

Andrew Tate arrives in US after travel ban was lifted – as Trump says he knows ‘nothing about that’

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2 hours ago

February 27, 2025

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Andrew Tate arrives in US after travel ban was lifted - as Trump says he knows 'nothing about that'

Andrew Tate and his brother Tristan have landed in Florida in the US after a travel ban in Romania was lifted – as Donald Trump insisted he knows “nothing about that”.

The Tates landed in Fort Lauderdale in a private plane at around 11:30am local time, their representative Mateea Petrescu added.

Speaking around an hour later, Andrew Tate told reporters: “We’ve yet to be convicted of any crimes in our lives ever. We have no criminal record anywhere on the planet ever.

“Our case was dismissed on 19 December in Romania under the Biden administration, and our prosecutor recently decided, because we have no active indictment in court, to let us go and return.

“This is a Democratic society, we’re supposed to be innocent until proven guilty, as my brother and I are.”

The brothers, who champion US President Trump, are facing charges in Romania of human trafficking, sexual misconduct and money laundering, as well as starting an organised crime group.

The self-styled misogynists are dual UK and US nationals whose controversial views are shared widely on social media platforms such as TikTok and X.

Their arrival in Fort Lauderdale comes after the Financial Times reported last week that the Trump administration had lobbied their Romanian counterparts to ease restrictions on the brothers while they face charges.

Romanian foreign minister Emil Hurezeanu said the Tates were mentioned during his brief hallway meeting with Mr Trump’s special envoy Richard Grenell at the Munich Security Conference earlier this month.

Mr Trump was asked about the arrival of the Tates in the US while meeting with UK Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer at the White House this evening.

Asked by a reporter if his administration pressured the Romanian government to let the Tates travel, the US president told reporters: “I know nothing about that. You’re saying (Andrew Tate) is on a plane right now?

“I just know nothing about it, we’ll check it out, we’ll let you know.”

Romanian prosecutors later said they had approved a request from Andrew Tate, 38, to travel outside of the country, pending the outcome of a criminal investigation.

The pair had been released from house arrest, but were not allowed to leave the country and were required to check in with the police regularly.

“The request to change the obligation of not leaving Romania was approved,” prosecutors said in a statement on Thursday.

“All the other obligations have been maintained, including the requirement to check in with judicial authorities every time they are called.”

A spokeswoman for the Tates told Sky News the Romanian courts had decided they will return to the brothers all of their assets.

This includes restoring their ownership of all previously frozen bank accounts, five properties, six cars including two Audis and a Ferrari, and company shares. Some assets will remain under precautionary seizure, according to the court ruling.

The brothers are fighting a series of legal battles not just in Romania, but also in the UK and the US.

They have consistently denied any wrongdoing in connection with all the legal action taking place.

The Tates grew up in Luton and have millions of social media followers. Andrew Tate also appeared in the UK version of Big Brother in 2016.

The pair are often criticised for their misogynistic views online – particularly as they have a predominately young, male audience.

A number of banned Twitter accounts have been reinstated by Elon Musk. Tate was among those brought back on 18 November 2022 after Musk took over and rebranded it X.

A British court ruled in March that the brothers are also under a European arrest warrant and will be extradited to the UK – where allegations of rape and human trafficking are being investigated by Bedfordshire Police – after Romanian trial proceedings finish for a separate investigation.

A recent lawsuit filed in Florida accuses both Tate brothers of conspiring to coerce a woman into sex work, luring her to Romania and defaming her after her testimony to Romanian authorities. The Tate brothers had previously sued her for defamation in 2023.

Four British women who allege they were raped and coercively controlled by Andrew Tate said they have been “retraumatised” by today’s events.

“It is clear that there is now a major risk that the criminal prosecution for his alleged crimes in Romania will not proceed, and he may use this development as an opportunity to harass further and intimidate witnesses and his accusers as well as continue to spread a violent, misogynistic doctrine around the world,” the alleged victims said in a joint statement.

Tate is facing civil action brought by the women at the High Court. He denies the allegations and has threatened to pursue the women for defamation.

Matthew Jury, their solicitor at McCue Jury & Partners, said: “The news that pressure by the Trump administration has led to Andrew Tate, and his brother Tristan, being allowed to leave Romania by its authorities is equal parts disgusting and dismaying.”

He added: “The UK government knew this might happen more than a week ago. The fact that nothing seems to have been done to prevent it is concerning. One can only hope action will now be taken. Given that Prime Minister Starmer is in the US today to meet with President Trump, perhaps his team may take the opportunity to raise this issue.”

World

Major internal investigation reveals IDF failures in October 7 attack

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2 hours ago

February 27, 2025

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Major internal investigation reveals IDF failures in October 7 attack

The Israel Defence Forces has admitted the attacks by Hamas on October 7 2023 were “a complete failure” of Israeli security and the result of many years of planning and deception by the Gaza-based militant group.

Announcing some of the findings from a major internal investigation, the Israeli military said “the IDF failed in its mission to protect people” and it was “one of the greatest failures” in the military’s history.

Nobody in the Israeli security establishment knew of, or predicted, the attacks and the force stationed on the border was the minimum required for everyday threats.

The primary focus at the time was on the threat from Iran and Hezbollah. The inquiry concluded that those actors were aware of Hamas’s plans but probably didn’t know the exact timing of the attacks.

Gaza was seen as a secondary threat and while Hamas was considered an illegitimate governing body of Gaza, there was no effort to develop an alternative.

The inquiry, which is the result of tens of thousands of hours of work by the IDF Southern Command, found as many as 5,600 terrorists broke into Israel in three waves.

On October 7 2023, 4,694 mortars and rockets were fired from Gaza into Israel, and 1,320 people were killed and 251 taken hostage.

As the IDF battled to regain control of southern Israel the same day, some of its commanders were forced to use google maps and mobile phones to communicate and co-ordinate.

The majority of killings and kidnappings occurred during the first two waves of attacks, between 6.29am and 9am on that Saturday morning.

Many Palestinians who entered Gaza in the third wave, during the afternoon, were from other terror organisations or “a mob taking advantage” rather than Hamas fighters trained for the attack.

In the chaos, the Israeli air force struggled to distinguish between Hamas fighters and Israeli civilians. The IDF accepts there were some deaths caused by friendly fire but haven’t elaborated how or where.

By 5pm, there were still hundreds of Hamas fighters spread out along the so-called Gaza envelope of Israeli communities, many in open areas.

It’s thought they planned to reach deeper into Israel, including Ashkelon and key air bases.

Intelligence assessments at the time believed that Hamas didn’t want a full-scale war and lacked the capability to launch one. IDF officials believed there would be early warnings if an attack was imminent, and the strategy was to “maintain the threat” rather than neutralise it.

Based on that, officials said soldiers “were addicted to the precise intelligence information” and failed to challenge the assumptions internally.

Although there were some unusual indications an attack was under way overnight, such as the activation of Israeli SIM cards inside Gaza, duty officers didn’t think it was time-critical and further investigation was needed.

Hamas activity in a specific area was dismissed as a training exercise. After consultation with senior commanders in the middle of the night, it was decided to hold a situational assessment early in the morning. The attack happened before that took place.

The scale and brutality of the attack took the IDF by surprise and their defensive strategies, including a vastly expensive subterranean wall, proved ineffective. The barrier was designed to stop mass protests and limited infiltration but not a large-scale attack. Forces along the border had been reduced because of other requirements on the Lebanon border and in the West Bank, and the IDF had too much confidence in the barrier defences.

Through various intelligence sources, including material found in Gaza, it’s now understood that Hamas’s leader at the time, Yahya Sinwar, first conceived the idea in November 2016. A plan to attack Israel was approved in July 2019.

During those years, Hamas deceived Israel, convincing leaders it wanted economic prosperity rather than conflict.

A short war between the two in 2021 didn’t inflict as much damage on Hamas infrastructure and capabilities as Israel believed.

Hamas was close to launching the attacks on three occasions during 2022 but decided not to for unknown reasons. They eventually did so to take advantage of a Jewish religious holiday in 2023.

The inquiry has also compiled 41 separate findings of battles in specific kibbutzim, military bases and key roads. Those details are being presented to the individual communities over the coming days.

The Israeli government has repeatedly rejected calls for a State Commission of Inquiry, saying the time is not yet right because of the ongoing war.

Critics of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu say he is avoiding personal responsibility for his role as Israel’s leader at the time.