Trump nominee Dr. Oz wants to take seniors’ Medicare. That’s bad medicine | Opinion

Dr. Mehmet Oz has been nominated to be head of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services — the federal agency overseeing Medicare. He is a supporter of Medicare Advantage (MA), the private alternative to traditional Medicare. He’s expected to advocate for MA in line with the Project 2025 goal of it becoming the default option for seniors.

Unfortunately, many MA plans prioritize profits over patient care. MA originally promised better care at a lower cost. It has failed on both counts. MA will cost the government $83 billion more than traditional Medicare in 2024. MA plans reap profits by delaying and denying care to the sickest patients. Narrow physician networks and prior approvals further restrict care.

The Trump administration should strengthen and improve traditional Medicare by including dental, vision and hearing coverage, eliminating the Part B premium and establishing an out-of-pocket maximum. MA profiteers will wither by comparison.

Dr. Douglas Robinson, Nebo

Biden did right

I wrote Biden telling him he did the right thing. This was a witch hunt. Rarely is anyone ever prosecuted for lying about substance abuse on a gun permit. Hunter was a casualty of politics.

Elizabeth Will, Shelby

ICE cooperation

It’s perfectly reasonable to protect communities from serious criminals who should not even be in the country.

Nevertheless, Democratic Gov. Roy Cooper vetoed the bill, citing the worn-out rhetoric that local police need to have trusting relationships with the communities and, therefore, should not cooperate with the feds to deport criminals.

Fortunately, state legislators overrode the veto and every law enforcement agency in the state must comply with ICE detainers after years of blowing them off.

Bill Kniegge, Waxhaw

Why deport?

It is beyond me to understand why the U.S. would only deport illegal immigrants who have committed a crime without first imprisoning them. This makes no sense whatsoever!

If an American commits a crime in a foreign country, they are punished using local laws, not just deported.

Ed Carlson, Charlotte

Republicans’ tantrum

North Carolina Republican Senators demonstrated once again their propensity for tantrums when they lose elections. While SB 382 came wrapped in a trench coat pretending to be a disaster relief bill, it actually strips decision making powers from newly elected Democratic candidates for governor and Council of State.

Tragically, voting along party lines to override Gov. Cooper’s veto of SB 382, the GOP Senators also threw our neighbors and friends in western NC under the bus. Residents deserve a clean relief bill and not a Trojan horse for an appalling power grab.

Our citizens need rental assistance, an eviction moratorium, childcare and healthcare stabilization and so much more. Our NC General Assembly needs to do its damn job.

Leigh Coulter, Indian Trail

Trump’s plan

While the Editorial Board states it preference in the Dec. 2 editorial “Joe Biden’s pardon of his son betrays those who stand for the rule of law” for legal processes to take their normal course, these are not normal times.

Trump nominated extreme loyalists to lead the Justice Department and the FBI and intends to use those to attack his enemies. Biden should be concerned about how a Trump administration will attack the Bidens. I’m not surprised at Biden’s changing his mind given the change in circumstances.

To further suggest that this “opens the door” for Trump to abuse his power is ludicrous. That door has been wide open for a long time. Donald Trump pardoned criminal cronies and family member Charles Kushner. He had already indicated that he would pardon Jan. 6 rioters.

I’d say Biden’s pardon is a reasonable response to the malicious abuse of power previously done and planned by Trump against his “enemies.”

James Cook, Charlotte

This story was originally published December 8, 2024 at 5:00 AM.