Dr. Mehmet Oz, now heading the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS), issued a stark warning Thursday: the greatest threat to the U.S. health care system isn’t just cost — it’s chronic disease. And unless Americans and government alike rethink how we approach care, the problem will only get worse.

Appearing on Fox News’ Special Report with Bret Baier, Dr. Oz discussed the Trump administration’s push under HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. to overhaul the system through the “Make America Healthy Again” (MAHA) initiative. At the heart of the effort is a focus on prevention, nutrition, and smart spending.

“Our goal is to put health back in Health and Human Services,” Oz said, emphasizing a shift toward holistic strategies that prioritize root causes of disease rather than throwing money at symptoms. “In every scenario we’re looking at, we’re increasing payment in Medicaid, putting more money into Medicaid — but spending it better.”

Oz revealed a startling figure: 70% of CMS spending — which includes Medicare, Medicaid, CHIP, and federal health exchanges — is going toward treating chronic illness, yet Americans aren’t seeing the returns. “We’re not getting our money’s worth,” he warned.

Critically, Oz tied this challenge to national responsibility: “It’s your patriotic duty to be as healthy as you can,” he told viewers. “And it’s our job to help you get there.”

Dr. Oz’s appearance comes just days after President Trump nominated Dr. Casey Means — a preventative medicine expert and nutrition advocate — for Surgeon General. The move signals a deepening of the White House’s strategy to focus on disease reversal and cost reduction through lifestyle change and policy reform.

While Democrats have accused Republicans of plotting cuts to Medicare and Medicaid, Trump and his health team have taken the opposite tack — keeping funding levels strong while demanding smarter deployment. “How do you spend that money so efficiently that you stop throwing money at problems, but actually deal with the broader health needs?” Oz asked.

That question is shaping policy fast. Under Secretary Kennedy, HHS is:

• Restricting the use of food stamps to buy junk food and sugary drinks
• Reviewing decades-old FDA practices that allow companies to self-certify ingredients as “safe”
• Elevating lifestyle medicine as a pillar of national strategy
• Cracking down on Big Pharma and food giants that profit from chronic disease

Despite his past media career and business ties, Dr. Oz has emerged as a key figure in the MAHA movement, aligning himself with Kennedy’s anti-corporate, pro-prevention philosophy. And while some critics point to Oz’s past endorsements of commercial products, the Trump administration sees his celebrity and background as a strategic asset for reshaping public understanding of health.

Secretary Kennedy, who has shaken up the federal health bureaucracy since taking office, has called the chronic disease epidemic “a national security threat” and has vowed to reverse it.

The mission is clear: restore dignity to the American diet, accountability to the health system, and independence from industries profiting off poor health.

With Medicaid expansion now tied to stronger nutritional standards and chronic illness front and center, Dr. Oz and the MAHA team are turning traditional health care upside down — and they’re just getting started.