He did not come out well on this one. Of course, he was going up against Governor Newsom, so it’s not much of a surprise. “Dr.” Oz is doing a series on what? All together now: Medicare fraud. *HE* is a fraud. He’s going to do more harm than good, too. What *is* it with Trump and his cabinet that they love this word “fraud”? It’s not like any of them know what they’re doing. From Politico via, and thank you, Raw Story:
Dr. Mehmet Oz, President Donald Trump’s head of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, is conducting a public campaign to expose what he claims is Medicaid fraud in Los Angeles and across California. But his presence is not being taken seriously by the state’s leaders, Politico reported. Since assuming his position, Oz has prioritized investigating fraudulent billing by nursing homes, in-home health agencies, and other healthcare providers. He has undertaken a multi-state tour visiting Minnesota, Florida, and Los Angeles to publicize these efforts.
The phrase “assuming his position” makes me twitch. It feels like it should be something for either a fraternity or the military. But, *ahem*, anyhow, he’s looking for fraudulent billing. Ooookay now. There will always be fraudulent billing. Just a fact of life. The thing is, it can be fought to a standstill, but then it will pop up somewhere else. It seems they would be better off doing what can be done and not trying to completely wipe it out. But that’s only my opinion.
During a social media video recorded in Los Angeles this week, Oz stated: “In California, there has not been a lot of attention on these problems, but that’s going to change.” The video was filmed outside a shuttered hospice company office, which Oz claimed had been improperly billing the federal government. But the state’s Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom characterized Oz’s campaign as political theater — and put down the celebrity doctor with a brutally dismissive response. “We don’t take Dr. Oz seriously,” his spokesperson, Izzy Gardon told Politico Friday.
Harsh! That has to grate on him, assuming he knows about it. Oz’s worldview may not allow him to notice any condescension. We can still enjoy the snark. How does Oz even know if the hospice company was fraudulent? He could have had people scouting around California for places that had closed, whether or not they were shuttered due to fraud. Oyy. There are lemons on that slot machine.
“We will respond as appropriate, but nothing he says is worth our time. If there’s something substantive, then we’ll consider it.” Gardon compared the situation to recent Minnesota cases where fraud by childcare centers run by Somali-Americans received renewed attention, prompting the Trump administration to freeze federal childcare payments. Oz has generated controversy within Los Angeles’s Armenian community by focusing on Armenian and Russian-operated businesses in his videos, highlighting Cyrillic lettering on storefronts and attributing alleged fraud to Armenian and Russian organized crime groups. Oz conducted Los Angeles visits while attending the JP Morgan Healthcare Conference in San Francisco, utilizing the opportunity to film social media content highlighting alleged fraudulent practices.
If he isn’t careful, he might actually tangle with someone from the darker side of life. That would be poetic justice. It’s not that I wish harm on him. It’s that he’s blowing things out of proportion and accusing nationalities that probably have almost nothing to do with fraud. Gotta earn his paycheck, after all. And speaking of, has anyone noticed that RFK Jr hasn’t been in the news for a while? And if so, is it good or bad? There’s another fraud who’s destroying American healthcare. Antivaxxer bullsh!t. Well, in the meantime, we can keep an eye on Oz’s nonsense and see what happens. See you soon!
Friends, I know everyone begs you for money. I promise that among all those asking for spare change, we are the smallest and the hardest-working. We’re a group of old, disabled people, except for one writer in his mid-50s. The rest of us are in our sixties and seventies, and this is a labor of love. All we’re asking for is the chance to keep telling the truth about Trump and help ensure democracy survives. If you can help, please do. Thank you. Ursula
Imagine that. A Turk targeting Armenians.
I get emails from Medicare with Oz’s name in the subject and they get deleted unread.
Ha, I didn’t know that. I do the same if it has him in it. “Bullsh!t” delete. We think alike hehe 🙂