Snake oil salesman Dr. Mehmet Oz—now the administrator for the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services—was criticized after he tried to discuss U.S. health insurance providers' pledge to speed up the prior authorization process by oddly comparing it to a "credit card," underscoring just how much he doesn't understand the job he currently holds.
Earlier this week, major U.S. health insurers—including Cigna, Aetna, Humana, and UnitedHealthcare—announced a set of reforms aimed at simplifying the often frustrating prior authorization process for patients and providers.
As part of the agreement, insurers committed to reducing the number of procedures and treatments requiring preapproval, accelerating decision timelines, and ensuring clearer communication with patients.
They also promised that coverage denials would be reviewed by qualified medical professionals. Additionally, patients switching to a new insurance plan will now be able to continue receiving care for up to 90 days without having to immediately navigate new prior authorization requirements.
When Fox News personality Laura Ingraham asked him how the companies’ compliance can be monitored, Oz said transparency is paramount and that the Trump administration "insisted on a dashboard."
Then he added:
“Like credit card. When you put it into the machine to buy something, they don’t prior authorize you. You either have money in the bank or you don’t.”
You can hear what he said in the video below.
The mockery was swift because um, that's not how any of this works.
Oz has been previously criticized for other statements that show just how out of touch he is.
During his 2022 Pennsylvania Senate campaign, Oz was called out for saying that a big problem for the Republican Party is that they lack "a Republican senator north of North Carolina on the Atlantic coast until you get to Maine." However, Pennsylvania is not on the coast. It is in fact separated from the Atlantic Ocean by the entire state of New Jersey, where Oz actually lives.
His opponent at the time, current Senator John Fetterman, generated support in his time off the campaign trail by launching social media campaigns that emphasized Oz's minimal ties to Pennsylvania.
Earlier, The Philadelphia Inquirer reported Oz lived in North Jersey for more than three decades. And while Oz has said he moved to Pennsylvania in 2020 to live with his in-laws, his social media posts and campaign ads have showed him still in New Jersey.
