Thank you.

Arthur looks like a gazelle, I should point this out.

You can't see him maybe if you're listening on the radio, but...

More like a cheetah than a gazelle, perhaps.

But the beauty of the site is that you can go there, and if you're not sure about the price you're paying for your medication, or you want to see if there's a better one, it'll give you all the options, including look at different drugstores around you.

Maybe they're different priced in the different drugstores.

You can print the coupon out and get your pricing.

A tough taskmaster.

Can you give me an estimate of how bad it is and what inroads have been made for the last two years and what you expect in the next two years?

It's about $100 billion a year.

To put that in context, we would stabilize the Medicare Trust Fund, double this life expectancy, and so it would be there for you and hopefully even your children if we take the fraud out of the system.

The big problem is during COVID, the Biden administration taught America and fraudsters that if you wanted to use the federal government as a piggy bank, it was yours.

And so with weak rules and an inability to enforce basic common sense measures, we ended up allowing vulnerable Americans to get taken advantage of over and ag- again.

And that leads to a corruption that rocks the very foundation of our society.

So we've already stopped $42 billion from leaving my building, the CMS building, which runs Medicare and Medicaid, just by being aggressive about making sure we check who's taking the money.

And, you know, it's still, even though the prices have come down, it's still out of reach for some.

That's J.D.

There he is.

And you know what? When you're dealing with fraud, same thing.

He's just going to go after these guys.

He's tenacious.

He's persistent.

He's pugilistic.

Do you all have more work to do on that? If so, what?

Your thoughts, you're there on the ground.

You're going to see a midterm convention from now on for both parties.

It just works.

You get a lot of folks together, candidates of already sitting individuals in Congress.

They have an opportunity to express their feeling about what's going on in the country.

It rewards a party.

Thank you very much.

So talk about that.

Your thoughts? You're there on the ground.

You're going to see a midterm convention from now on for both parties.

It just works.

You get a lot of folks together, candidates of already sitting individuals in Congress.

They have an opportunity to express their feeling about what's going on in the country.

It rewards a party that's been doing what it said it was going to do, which is true for this administration.

It would penalize one that didn't.

So talk about that.

Do you think it's going to make any difference outside of this big, big bubble?

Oh, without question.

I like how you use the wicked metaphor for U.S. politics.

A tough wicked.

We think about, you know, you're the 10-yard line.

You're in the critical red zone.

We're close to scoring.

Do you think that coalition survives beyond 24, 28? Is that union between non-traditional Republican voters who are very focused on health care, is it still strong? Has it survived being in government? Without question, not only is it

Your thoughts? You're there on the ground.

You're going to see a midterm convention from now on for both parties.

It just works.

You get a lot of folks together, candidates of already sitting individuals in Congress.

They have an opportunity to express their feeling about what's going on in the country.

It rewards a party that's been doing what it said it was going to do, which is true for this administration.

It would penalize one that didn't.

So talk about that.

So what's the bigger fix?

Well, let me offer two solutions.

I do think we should pay attention to the fraud benefit.

We estimate about $100 billion of fraud.

Treasury Department just released, before I walked out to do this interview with you, $20-plus billion, which they're identifying just looking at the accounting from banks that they believe represents money laundering and fraud in the healthcare space.

That would double the life expectancy of the Medicare trust fund.

I'll say that again.

How are you thinking about the answer to that question?

Right.

We'll say, "Take the money you would have bought insurance with, put it into an account for your employees.

Let them buy their own insurance with that off the Obamacare exchanges." The prices of the Obamacare exchanges, we believe, will be stabilized, maybe come down, 'cause you've got a better risk pool.

The employees can choose the insurance they want.

They've got many more choices of the policy they desire based on where they are in their lives, and they like the fact that it actually saves them money, and a roughly 20% reduction in premiums by taking this approach, as opposed to forcing them into the traditional small, uh, uh, commercial, uh, employer groups.

And I think that's the right way to go for a lot of smaller businesses.

That could be rolled out across America, and it would help us deal with some of the challenges of Obamacare.

I guess it's no different than if they were going into the Obamacare exchanges to begin with.

Why is that? Is it because the hospital is too far away? Is it because of environmental? Why is there that discrepancy?

Well, there's two parts to it.

The first is you have to have access to high-quality food and be able to be active and get sleep, all the lifestyle things that the MAHA movement's about.

You can do that in rural America.

It's not as easy sometimes because if you're in a poor part of the country, you may be in a food desert, not so easy to get access to fresh fruits and vegetables.

That stated, the bigger issue, we believe, is if you're having a baby.

or if you have a cancer or a more serious condition, it's just hard to get care.

You probably don't have time to go through all those diaries, but what was your reaction when you started hearing about all this stuff?

And boy, are you saving, especially seniors and others, big money.

So let's set the stage here, and thanks for the kind words.

The president was particularly upset when he came into office with the news that about one in three Americans will leave the pharmacy empty-handed because they cannot afford their branded products that their doctor told them to buy and take for their health.

And so when we also realized that we're paying two to three times more than any other country on the planet for a lot of these medications, especially when they're made here in this country, it was inexcusable.

So the president insisted that we achieve most favored nation drug pricing.

Again, that means we're not going to pay more than other countries pay for the exact same drugs, no more global freeloading.

Everyone needs to be fair about this.

It's not going away.

i hear from a lot of folks that you know i don't need to bother with trump rx.gov because you know i'm not looking to get on a glp-1 but there there is a wide swath of conditions that it covers obviously diabetes because that's tied to the glp-1s but a lot of chronic disorders um autoimmune diseases there are i mean it seems like there's a pretty wide offering when it comes to treatments

Well, again, most of the prescription branded products in America are on Trump Rx right now.

So if you want to have a baby, the major reason parents don't have babies, desiring parents, is they can't afford the medications.

Those medications now are 90% off in some instances.

We've got better medications for cancer.

We've got better medications for autoimmune problems.

All the things that have become pretty expensive to treat in America that you see ads on all night long and a lot of the cable channels.

The work you have done in the first year and a half of rooting out Medicaid and Medicare fraud, it can actually extend the life of the Medicare program, right?

And boy, are you saving, especially seniors and others, big money.

So let's set the stage here, and thanks for the kind words.

The president was particularly upset when he came into office with the news that about one in three Americans will leave the pharmacy empty-handed because they cannot afford their branded products that their doctor told them to buy and take for their health.

And so when we also realized that we're paying two to three times more than any other country on the planet for a lot of these medications, especially when they're made here in this country, it was inexcusable.

So the president insisted that we achieve most favored nation drug pricing.

Again, that means we're not going to pay more than other countries pay for the exact same drugs, no more global freeloading.

Everyone needs to be fair about this.

It's not going away.

And boy, are you saving, especially seniors and others, big money.

So let's set the stage here, and thanks for the kind words.

The president was particularly upset when he came into office with the news that about one in three Americans will leave the pharmacy empty-handed because they cannot afford their branded products that their doctor told them to buy and take for their health.

And so when we also realized that we're paying two to three times more than any other country on the planet for a lot of these medications, especially when they're made here in this country, it was inexcusable.

So the president insisted that we achieve most favored nation drug pricing.

Again, that means we're not going to pay more than other countries pay for the exact same drugs, no more global freeloading.

Everyone needs to be fair about this.

It's not going away.

And boy, are you saving, especially seniors and others, big money.

So let's set the stage here, and thanks for the kind words.

The president was particularly upset when he came into office with the news that about one in three Americans will leave the pharmacy empty-handed because they cannot afford their branded products that their doctor told them to buy and take for their health.

And so when we also realized that we're paying two to three times more than any other country on the planet for a lot of these medications, especially when they're made here in this country, it was inexcusable.

So the president insisted that we achieve most favored nation drug pricing.

Again, that means we're not going to pay more than other countries pay for the exact same drugs, no more global freeloading.

Everyone needs to be fair about this.

It's not going away.

There are, I mean, it seems like there's a pretty wide offering when it comes to treatments.

Well, you know, again, most of the prescription branded products in America are on Trump Rx right now.

So if you want to have a baby, the major reason parents don't have babies, desiring parents, they can't afford the medications.

Those medications now are 90% off in some instances.

We've got better medications for cancer.

We've got better medications for autoimmune problems.

All the things that have become pretty expensive to treat in America that you see ads on all night long and a lot of the cable channels, those companies now, because we have approached them with a very honest offer.

The work you have done in the first year and a half of rooting out Medicaid and Medicare fraud, it can actually extend the life of the Medicare program, right? Well, the

There's a lot to champion with what the administration has been doing to lower prescription drug prices.

Well, the president's enthusiastic about the remarkable drop in prices for these medications.

But I want to highlight that when the administration first started, this was a major theme that the president, behind closed doors, was hammering us on.

And the basic argument he was making, because he's listening to folks who voted for him, is that one in three times you go to a drugstore to pick up a medication your doctor told you to get, you paid for an appointment for someone to tell you what you need, and you can't pick up the medication.

And the reason for that, which is infuriating, is that we pay three times more on average per medication branded products than any other country on the planet.

And the president said, no mas.

We're not going to tolerate that.

But has this fraud always been a problem that's just been exacerbated since COVID? Or have people gotten so bold that they're doing things that nobody's even thought were possible?

There's a lot to champion with what the administration has been doing to lower prescription drug prices.

Well, the president's enthusiastic about the remarkable drop in prices for these medications.

But I want to highlight that when the administration first started, this was a major theme that the president, behind closed doors, was hammering us on.

And the basic argument he was making, because he's listening to folks who voted for him, is that one in three times you go to a drugstore to pick up a medication your doctor told you to get, you paid for an appointment for someone to tell you what you need, and you can't pick up the medication.

And the reason for that, which is infuriating, is that we pay three times more on average per medication branded products than any other country on the planet.

And the president said, no mas.

We're not going to tolerate that.

But has this fraud always been a problem that's just been exacerbated since COVID? Or have people gotten so bold that they're doing things that nobody's even thought were possible? It's

There's a lot to champion with what the administration has been doing to lower prescription drug prices.

Well, the president's enthusiastic about the remarkable drop in prices for these medications.

But I want to highlight that when the administration first started, this was a major theme that the president, behind closed doors, was hammering us on.

And the basic argument he was making, because he's listening to folks who voted for him, is that one in three times you go to a drugstore to pick up a medication your doctor told you to get, you paid for an appointment for someone to tell you what you need, and you can't pick up the medication.

And the reason for that, which is infuriating, is that we pay three times more on average per medication branded products than any other country on the planet.

And the president said, no mas.

We're not going to tolerate that.

But has this fraud always been a problem that's just been exacerbated since COVID? Or have people gotten so bold that they're doing things that nobody's even thought were possible? It's the

And it's like some dude in a kiosk.

Well, the egregious part of this is during COVID, we taught a lot of gangsters that they could get away with stealing from the federal government and no one would do anything about it.

So we've got hospices in California.

In fact, one third of all hospices in the entire country are in Los Angeles, not California, Los Angeles.

And so a lot of these folks are not taking care of anybody.

These numbers are ridiculous.

We've got the autism spends in places like Minnesota should be a million dollars that are $400 million.

And he said, and that doesn't, that's, you know, he started going down a rabbit hole of all these other places where it's a cottage industry to teach people how to scam the system.

Dr. Oz, welcome back, my friend.

Thank you for having me on.

So beautiful what you articulated, and it's just what the doctor ordered.

We have the fastest drop in drug prices ever in American history over the past six months.

Over the past year, it's dropped so far that the last time we were even close was 1963.

And that is an important point because that was the first time that under a lot of pressure, Congress said that drug companies had to actually show that their products worked.

Think about that.

I mean, i- i- is that not, i- is that not rewarding lawbreaking?

Ah.

And, uh, the place is spectacular.

And I want to applaud how the high-quality facilities function in healthcare, but the only way we can balance, uh, the need to have high-quality care of that nature and our budget is to deal with the fraud and the abuse and all that's going out around there, and it's to be hard-nosed in our negotiating.

And sometimes the abuse is not from criminal elements, it's just folks knowing they can make a buck if they charge you in a different way or, uh, can introduce new ways of, of, uh, of, of putting some, a little extra cash in their pockets.

And that's unfortunately what happened in the pharmaceutical industry.

And when President Trump took it seriously and realized that one in three Americans almost are leaving grocery store, drugstores, and, and the, nowadays we're buying drugs in grocery stores as well, without the medications that they were s- prescribed to take 'cause they couldn't afford them, he went after it.

And we realized that one in, you know, roughly, across the board, if we look at people all over the planet, Americans pay three times more for the exact same drugs made often in American facilities.

Right

Ah.

And, uh, the place is spectacular, and I want to applaud how the high quality facilities function in healthcare, but the only way we can balance, uh, the need to have high quality care of that nature and our budget is to deal with the fraud and the abuse and all that's going out around there, and it's to be hard-nosed in our negotiating.

And sometimes the abuse is not from criminal elements, it's just folks knowing they can make a buck if they charge you in a different way or, uh, can introduce new ways of, of, uh, of, of putting some, a little extra cash in their pockets.

And that's unfortunately what happened in the pharmaceutical industry, and when President Trump Took it seriously and realized that one in three Americans almost are leaving grocery store, drugstores and, and the, nowadays you're buying drugs in grocery stores as well, without the medications that they were s- prescribed to take 'cause they couldn't afford them.

He went after it, and we realized that one in, you know, roughly, across the board, looking at people all over the planet, Americans pay three times more for the exact same drugs made often in American facilities.

So we went after that.

We call it most favored nation drug pricing, and the numbers just came out.

Right

[laughs]

... ever happened before.

And so the question is, like, what's going on? Well, let's go back 60 years and see what has gone on there.

There was a political power at the time to make a difference in how m- pharmaceutical companies were re- were proving that their drugs worked.

That didn't used to be insisted on by the FDA.

In 1963, it's for the first time, after thalidomide birth defects and a lot of other complications, it became the standard, and that seismic event re- priced all the drugs in America for the...

And then now, 63 years later, another seismic event called President Trump did the same thing when he said that he did not want Americans leaving the drugstore without the medications their doctors had prescribed because they could not afford the pills.

Mm-hmm

How are you?

Good morning, Sid.

You know, Mark Cuban's comments there are very telling.

When folks who objectively know the space agree that Trump Rx, which is taking all the great work that's been done with most favored nation drug price negotiations, which we'll get to, is actually working, then the.

the hollow angry vehemence from the left doesn't make sense.

I mean, you should be rooting for this.

I don't care what political party you're in.

right.