Dr. Mehmet Oz, administrator of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, said Thursday that healthcare lobbyists are at the forefront of the “false narratives” being driven about the “big, beautiful bill’s” impact on Medicaid, telling Newsmax that eliminating waste, fraud, and abuse hurts special interest groups.

Oz joined Newsmax’s “National Report” to dispel two myths in particular that lobbyists are spreading about the funding megabill “to protect their special interests,” Oz said, adding, “much of these false narrative insights come from looking at what the real motivating factors are.”

“There’s a push from some that say, Hey, this isn’t helping rural America. Rural America needs to be protected. We need to have all these so-called provider taxes included in our health economy. Not true,” Oz said. “These provider taxes are legalized money laundering. And guess who gets to use them? It’s the most connected hospitals, hospitals who have strong lobbyists and connections to state government and state leaders. Who gets left behind? Rural hospitals. Only 5% of these provider taxes go to rural hospitals.

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