Dr. Oz: Obesity, loneliness are enemies of public health

“The most patriotic thing you can do is take care of yourself,” Dr. Mehmet Oz told the audience at the AHIP Medicare, Medicaid, Duals and Commercial Markets Forum in Washington.

The cardiac surgeon and former TV talk show host, now administrator of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, discussed his vision for a healthier America and the reforms he wants his agency to implement for the nation’s health care system.

“The area where I think we have the biggest challenge is that you can’t get a patient healthy in the hospital; you have to intervene to help them have their best life,” Oz said.

He expressed concern over the percentage of Americans who are overweight, but noted there is evidence that the nation is making progress in awareness of the dangers of obesity.

“We have a population that is sicker than that of other wealthy countries,” he said. “The reason why we are so expensive to treat is that we are fatter than other countries.

“A major cause of obesity is that you feel you aren’t in control over your world, you’re only in control of the fork at the end of your arm.”

Loneliness is an enemy of public health

In addition to the obesity epidemic, Oz warned that loneliness is also destroying Americans’ health.

“I think we need to focus as a nation on how lonely people are,” he said. “Loneliness is pathological.”

Loneliness trickles down into other aspects of health care, he said.

“The problem with Medicaid is not that we’re paying for too many hernia operations; it’s that we are paying for things that your family or your community used to do for you – those community-based services.

“It is hard to put money into a health care system to deal with a deeper society challenge of an isolated population that is lonely.”

A belief in changing the system

During his career in medicine, Oz co-invented the MitraClip, a pioneering transcatheter device designed to repair leaky mitral valves without the need for open‑heart surgery. This innovation marked a major shift in cardiac care by offering a minimally invasive option for high‑risk patients.

He told the AHIP audience he believed his invention would change people’s lives as well as the way the medical profession thought about heart disease. His TV show was another way he thought he could change people’s lives. He said his new role at CMS “offered the perfect opportunity to change things and make them better.

“I believe I can make a difference in this system that is very balkanized and broken.”

Oz said he is encouraged by the possibilities of artificial intelligence in the health care space.

“AI is not a technological issue anymore – it is a cultural issue,” he said.

He believes that AI can help deliver health care to 60 million rural Americans who have challenges accessing care.

“I believe that if we use AI correctly, we will change our culture at CMS to see how AI can make people’s lives better,” he said. “And it will happen while we are in office. By the time we leave office, AI will be the dominant force in everything we do in medicine. Will we run away from it, or will we embrace it and take advantage of it?”

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Susan Rupe is editor in chief, magazine, for InsuranceNewsNet. She formerly served as communications director for an insurance agents' association and was an award-winning newspaper reporter and editor. Contact her at [email protected].