President Donald Trump’s favorite celebrity doctor is telling Medicaid recipients to get off their couch.
Dr. Mehmet Oz, the Trump-appointed administrator of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, on Thursday suggested that low-income Americans enrolled in the program are bums who spend their hours watching TV.
“An able-bodied person on Medicaid today watches about 6.1 hours of television or just hangs out, leisure time,” he said on CNBC. “That’s a lot of time.”
Mehmet Oz: “It is reprehensible to criticize the president on this I think very earnest effort to save Medicaid … an able-bodied person on Medicaid today watches about 6.1 hours of television or just hangs out — leisure time. That’s a lot of time.” pic.twitter.com/95RfnFEq0Y
— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) August 14, 2025
He continued: “It is reprehensible to criticize the president on this, I think, very earnest effort to save Medicaid… to provide care to our most vulnerable.”
His accusation comes only a month after he said that Americans on Medicaid shouldn’t eat “carrot cake.”
Oz told CNBC host Joe Kernen that people should not use Medicaid in ways “it was not designed.”
When Medicaid was created, he added Thursday, it was reserved for those in the “dawn” and “twilight” of their lives—childhood and old age—and for people “living in the shadows.” In other words, people with disabilities.
“Those are the folks it was designed for,” he said. “So every Democratic president, and every Republican president, has said that the backbone of a social support fabric has to be work. You want people to actually get out of their homes and go do things.”
The federal government is poised to reduce support for Medicaid due to the passage of the GOP’s “Big Beautiful Bill.” The Congressional Budget Office estimates that these cuts could cause 10 million Americans to lose health insurance by 2034.
“No one’s gonna be happy sitting at home 6.1 hours a day doing nothing. Your desire to go out and do something to change the world is given to you by God the moment you’re born,” Oz said. “We want people to go out there and live their fullest lives.”
As of January, over 71 million people were enrolled in Medicaid. The insurance covers vulnerable populations, including children, pregnant women, and people with disabilities.
“I don’t understand how you could possibly say that’s a bad thing for America, for us not to want to get people to be wealthy,” Oz added.
In July, Oz made similar statements about the health habits of the typical Medicaid user.
“We’ll be there for you, the American people, when you need help with Medicaid and Medicare, but you gotta stay healthy as well‚” he told Fox Business’ Stuart Varney.
He continued: “Do the most you can do to really live up to your God-given potential to live a full and healthy life. Don’t eat carrot cake. Eat real food.”
The Daily Beast has reached out to Oz for comment.
Additonal reporting by Amber Levis
The post Dr. Oz Accuses Americans on Medicaid of Being Couch Potatoes appeared first on The Daily Beast.
