Dr. Mehmet Oz has agreed to divest stakes worth millions of dollars in numerous healthcare companies, including UnitedHealth Group and HCA Healthcare, if he is confirmed as administrator of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services.
In an ethics agreement posted by the Office of Government Ethics Wednesday, President Donald Trump’s pick to lead CMS said he would end investments in many companies within 90 days of confirmation. He also said upon confirmation, he would resign from numerous advisory positions he holds.
Related: CMS pick Dr. Oz touts Medicare Advantage, invests in healthcare
Oz drew fire from Democrats late last year for retaining holdings in Medicare Advantage companies, health tech companies, drug manufacturers and fertility treatment groups because of potential conflicts of interest since he could potentially profit from his future work as CMS administrator.
“Before your nomination comes to the Senate, Congress and the public deserve answers about your views on Medicare and your financial conflicts of interest,” Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) and six other congressional Democrats wrote Oz in December.
What's unclear from the ethics agreement is the exact value of Oz’s stake in the companies listed. In the document, he listed the value of his holdings at between $300,000 and $600,000 in UnitedHealth Group; $50,000 and $100,000 each in HCA and Abbvie; $1,000 to $15,000 each in McKesson and Eli Lilly; and $15,000 and $50,000 in Oracle, which operates Oracle Health. He also has a stake valued at between $5 million and $25 million in nutritional supplement company iHerb and is listed on the company's website as its global adviser.
He said he would step down from advisory roles at iHerb as well at Cardiology Partners, a healthcare practice. Oz also said he would not receive payments from a device patent he holds as part of his work with the NY Presbyterian Columbia University Hospital.
Oz has held some of these investments since at least his 2022 Senate financial disclosure paperwork, in which Oz listed up to $550,000 in UnitedHealth Group and up to $50,000 each in Nashville, Tennessee-based HCA Healthcare, AbbVie and McKesson.
Oz also said he would divest his stakes in a handful of healthcare startups, including digital health company ShareCare. The disclosure lists the value of that investment as less than $1,000. In his 2022 paperwork, it was listed as between $5 million and $25 million.
Oz, a cardiothoracic surgeon famous for his role as TV host, will need to face the Senate Finance Committee for questioning before being moved to the full Senate for a vote to confirm. That hearing has not been scheduled. Lawmakers often wait for ethics and financial reports to be released before they schedule hearings.
If confirmed, Oz will spearhead leadership of CMS under the command of Robert F. Kennedy Jr., who was confirmed as head of the Health and Human Services Department in early February amid concerns about Kennedy's stance on vaccines from both Democrats and Republicans.
The White House and the Health and Human Services Department did not respond to request for comment.
