For Immediate Release

AFSCME’s Saunders: Patients who depend on Medicare and Medicaid deserve better than Dr. Oz

WASHINGTON – AFSCME President Lee Saunders released the following statement after the Senate confirmed Dr. Mehmet Oz to lead the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS):

“At a time when our population is growing older and the need for access to home care, nursing homes, affordable prescription drugs, and quality medical care has never been greater, Americans deserve better than a snake oil salesman leading the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services.

“Dr. Mehmet Oz has been shilling pseudoscience to line his own pockets. He can’t be trusted to defend Medicare and Medicaid from billionaires who want to dismantle and privatize the foundation of affordable health care in this country.

“AFSCME members – including nurses, home care and child care providers, social workers and more – will be watching and fighting back against any effort to weaken Medicare and Medicaid. The 147 million seniors, children, Americans with disabilities, and low-income workers who rely on these programs for affordable access to health care deserve nothing less.”

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AFSCME’s 1.4 million members provide the vital services that make America happen. With members in communities across the nation, serving in hundreds of different occupations — from nurses to corrections officers, childcare providers to sanitation workers — AFSCME advocates for fairness in the workplace, excellence in public services and freedom and opportunity for all working families. 

AFSCME’s 1.4 million members provide the vital services that make America happen. With members in communities across the nation, serving in hundreds of different occupations — from nurses to corrections officers, child care providers to sanitation workers — AFSCME advocates for fairness in the workplace, excellence in public services and freedom and opportunity for all working families.

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American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees, AFL-CIO
1625 L Street, N.W. Washington, D.C. 20036-5687
Telephone: (202) 429-1145
Fax: (202) 429-1120

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