Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Administrator Dr. Mehmet Oz appeared to let slip that he doesn’t quite grasp how credit cards work.
The former revered heart surgeon-turned-television host appeared on Fox News’ Ingraham Angle to discuss America’s largest health insurance companies pledging to streamline prior authorization.
After giving a confusing analogy that compared approving procedures to credit card transactions, Oz made an unintentional admission: he doesn’t know how one works.
“We’ve insisted on a dashboard. They have to be public about what they’re doing,” he told Laura Ingraham on Wednesday. “We want to know, for example, by the end of this year, can you do these examinations instantaneously?”
“Like a credit card,” Oz, who boasts an estimated $200 million net worth, continued.
“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.”
Credit card companies do prior authorization on every transaction to determine whether money can be spent, which includes checking if the card is valid, that there’s enough credit available, and if there are any signs of fraud.
Individuals also borrow and spend money on their payment cards that they do not physically have in the bank.
Oz was seemingly trying to illustrate that medical approvals should be quick and automated, like credit card checks.
UnitedHealthcare, Aetna, Cigna, and Humana were among dozens of medical insurance companies that agreed to several measures on Monday, including making fewer medical procedures subject to prior authorization.
If the companies follow through, patients would have to jump through fewer bureaucratic hoops, receive faster treatment approvals, and have enhanced continuity of care.
Speaking to reporters Monday, Oz said that the pledge is “not a mandate,” adding: “This is an opportunity for the industry to show itself.”
The CMS head also said he wants insurers to eliminate preapprovals for knee arthroscopy, a common, uncomplicated procedure to diagnose and treat knee issues.
On Wednesday, Oz explained that he and Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. went to the insurance industry directly to tell them their old model was “inefficient.”
“‘Secretary Kennedy feels this is wrong, the president feels this is wrong, we have to make a deal,’” he told Ingraham of his apparent dressing down of executives.
“‘So either you do it or we’re gonna do it for you, and it’s a lot less painful if you guys get together and figure this out and actually make a pledge.’”
