Dive Brief:
Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., said in a letter Wednesday that Dr. Mehmet Oz, President Donald Trump’s nominee to lead the CMS, must divest his stake in healthcare and pharmaceutical companies prior to assuming his role, if confirmed.
The surgeon and television personality owns stocks in UnitedHealth Group, AbbVie and Eli Lilly, according to disclosures filed to the government. He also advises certain companies that sell medical technology equipment and nutritional supplements.
Oz has promised to divest from some of those holdings already, according to Warren. However, the senator said Oz should fully divest and commit to a four-year lobbying hiatus after leaving office.
Dive Insight:
Oz will appear before the Senate Finance Committee on Friday for his confirmation hearing.
“If confirmed, you will be expected to steward CMS’s $1.5 trillion budget in the best interest of the over 140 million Americans on Medicare and Medicaid,” Warren wrote. “Entering this role with financial conflicts of interest would undermine your effectiveness and the effectiveness of the programs you are slated to administer.”
Oz works with or previously worked with numerous companies that the CMS could oversee, including Eko Health and SandboxAQ, which sell medical diagnostic technologies, and could require the CMS’ approval for reimbursement requests.
The nominee also founded and still holds up to $5 million of stock in ShareCare, a digital health company that provides in-home supplement benefit programs used by approximately 1.5 million Medicare Advantage enrollees.
“Your relationships with these and other entities will raise serious doubts about your impartiality if you participate in coverage decisions and other matters that impact them,” said Warren, urging the nominee to both divest his stake and recuse himself from matters concerning previous business interests.
The senator is also concerned about Oz’s activity upon leaving Washington, if confirmed.
Warren said previous agency heads, including Biden appointees and Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., who was just confirmed to lead the HHS, had agreed to a “cooling-off period” for working in industry after leaving office.
“By agreeing to a cooling off period, you can mitigate concerns about your potential conflicts of interest in this role,” Warren said.
