How Dr. Oz Could Leverage the Affordable
Care Act to Undermine Medicare and Push
Privatization

Dr. Mehmet Oz, a well-known television personality and former Senate candidate, has long been
associated with conservative health policy ideas. If he were to pursue an agenda of dismantling
Medicare and pushing for full privatization, he could use the existing framework of the
Affordable Care Act (ACA) to achieve this goal. While the ACA was originally designed to
expand healthcare access, certain provisions within it—especially those related to Medicare
Advantage, cost-cutting measures, and private insurer involvement—could be manipulated to
weaken traditional Medicare and shift seniors into private plans.

Exploiting Medicare Advantage to Gut Traditional
Medicare

One of the ACA’s most controversial effects on Medicare has been the expansion of Medicare
Advantage, the private alternative to traditional Medicare. Medicare Advantage (MA) plans are
run by private insurance companies but receive government subsidies to cover enrollees. While
these plans often offer additional benefits, they also create an environment where private insurers
compete directly with traditional Medicare.

Dr. Oz and like-minded policymakers could use this structure to systematically siphon funding
away from traditional Medicare. Here’s how:

•  Expanding Medicare Advantage Subsidies: Increasing government subsidies to
  Medicare Advantage plans would make them more attractive, pulling more seniors away
  from traditional Medicare. Over time, this would weaken traditional Medicare by
  reducing its risk pool and shifting costs onto remaining beneficiaries.
• Deceptive Marketing and Enrollment Tactics: Encouraging insurers to use aggressive
  marketing tactics to push seniors into Medicare Advantage plans could accelerate the
  privatization process. This is already happening, with many seniors unknowingly
  enrolling in plans that restrict their provider choices.
• Cutting Traditional Medicare Reimbursement Rates: If reimbursement rates for
  doctors who accept traditional Medicare are slashed while private insurers continue
  receiving lucrative subsidies, fewer doctors will accept Medicare patients, making it less
  viable.

The ACA already laid the groundwork for a competitive dynamic between Medicare Advantage
and traditional Medicare. If Dr. Oz were in a position of power, he could exploit this trend to
weaken traditional Medicare to the point where it is no longer a viable option for most seniors.

Using the ACA’s Cost-Control Measures Against Medicare

The ACA introduced several cost-cutting mechanisms to slow the growth of healthcare spending,
including the Independent Payment Advisory Board (IPAB), which was designed to recommend
Medicare spending reductions. Although IPAB was repealed in 2018, similar cost-cutting
measures could be reintroduced to undermine traditional Medicare.

A strategy to privatize Medicare could involve:

•  Imposing Greater Cost-Saving Measures on Traditional Medicare: While Medicare
  Advantage plans often operate with fewer financial constraints, new cost-cutting
  measures could be applied disproportionately to traditional Medicare, making it less
  competitive.
• Pushing for Premium Support or Voucher Systems: Some conservatives have long
  advocated for turning Medicare into a voucher system, where seniors receive a fixed
  amount to purchase private insurance. The ACA’s cost-cutting framework could be
  leveraged to justify such a shift, arguing that it would reduce government spending and
  increase competition.

By using the ACA’s own cost-containment principles against Medicare, Dr. Oz could position
privatization as a fiscal necessity rather than an ideological shift.

Positioning Privatization as “Innovation”

The ACA promotes “innovation” in healthcare delivery through programs like Accountable Care
Organizations (ACOs), which encourage coordinated care among providers. While ACOs were
designed to improve care and reduce costs, they could also serve as a Trojan horse for
privatization.
Dr. Oz could advocate for:

• Expanding the Role of Private Insurers in ACOs: Allowing private companies to take
  control of ACOs and run them like private health plans could further blur the line
  between public and private coverage.
•  Framing Medicare Privatization as “Modernization”: Using tech-based solutions and
  efficiency arguments, policymakers could argue that a privatized Medicare system is
  better suited for the 21st century, even if it ultimately leads to higher costs for seniors.

The Endgame: Phasing Out Traditional Medicare

If Dr. Oz or similar figures were to pursue a privatization strategy, the ultimate goal would be to
phase out traditional Medicare entirely. By systematically weakening traditional Medicare,
directing more beneficiaries into private plans, and using cost-cutting mechanisms to justify
privatization, Medicare could be transformed into a fully privatized system.

While such a move would be highly controversial and face significant public opposition, history
has shown that gradual changes can sometimes achieve what outright policy shifts cannot. By
leveraging the ACA’s existing framework, Dr. Oz and other proponents of Medicare
privatization could push their agenda under the guise of “improving” the program—until
traditional Medicare is no longer an option.

Conclusion

The Affordable Care Act, originally intended to expand healthcare access, has built-in
mechanisms that could be exploited to undermine traditional Medicare. Dr. Oz, with his
background in both medicine and media, could play a significant role in advocating for these
changes. By redirecting funding, implementing targeted cost-cutting measures, and promoting
privatization as innovation, Medicare could be dismantled in favor of a fully private
system—fulfilling a long-standing conservative goal. Whether or not this happens will depend
on political will, public awareness, and resistance from those who seek to preserve Medicare as a
public program.