Moron, clown, sycophant. Maybe all 3.

Just look at that face. 

It’s in the email he just sent us seniors to tell us how to stay healthy.

Would you trust that face?  I’d call it half a bubble off.

But it matches the simplistic, dumbass advice he’s giving us for staying healthy.

Eat.

Drink.

Move around.

See your doctor from time to time.  

And for this, he gets a salary of around $200K from federal funds. 

I guess I’d be content if that’s all Oz and CMS were doing for us - giving us advice we already know.

Because while he’s writing his silly emails with his silly face on them, his whole agency is working hard to cut Medicare protections and keep the entirety of the health care situation as inscrutable as ever and the fiendishly difficult to navigate. 

Here’s some of what they’ve been working on ... 

The final rate payment for Medicare Advantage will now be even higher than what had been proposed by the Trump administration. Even for 2025, Families USA calculated that Medicare Advantage plans were paid 20% more per enrollee in 2025 than people with straight Medicare. I guess Oz is comfortable with these giveaways to private companies.

According to Protect Our Care, CMS’s proposed rule will enable drug companies to skirt Medicare price negotiations.  I guess Oz approves of the the backroom deals Trump’s cutting to orchestrate loopholes for big pharma.

CMS is not going to finalize the proposal to make a special enrollment periods for people whose providers drop out of Advantage plans. Nor will it require mid-year notices to remind people to use their supplemental benefits. Or require marketing agencies to refer people to State Health Insurance Assistance Programs. I guess Oz likes it that people won’t be told to ask state agencies for help with their Medicare choices. Heaven knows they might be advised to stick with Original Medicare rather than get involved with privatized health insurance.

And now we’re going to get back-to-back educational and marketing events.  CMS has removed the required 12-hr delay between the two.  And no delay either now between the Scope of Appointment form and the marketing appointment. That 48-hr cooling off period is gone.  I guess Oz favors marketing rules that help brokers swoop in for the kill. The less time people have to think over what they’ve learned, the better for marketers, right? 

CMS has has seriously changed the Star Ratings system for Advantage plans. No need to include admin performance (more here). I guess Oz is thrilled that insurance company ratings will rise and lead to bigger bonus reimbursements for his cronies. 

And what about that new LEAD model that’s going to replace ACO REACH. If your doctor joins an ACO, you go with him into the new arrangement or find another provider. That’s helpful, right?  Staying within narrow networks is incentivized, and your personal medical information will be shared with providers, networks and 3rd-party care (more here).  Nothing wrong here, according to Oz.

I can’t get over that face. Fatuous. Ditzy. Happy-go-lucky. Fiddling while Rome burns.

And don’t get me started on any involvement Oz has with that other clown, RFK Jr.