Oz demands proof that unions diverted $100M in Medicaid dues to SEIU
Topic: generalRegion: north americaUpdated: i1 outletsSources: 1Spectrum: Right Only⏱ 3 min read
Story Summary
SITUATION
Mehmet Oz sent letters to nine states demanding proof that home care workers explicitly consented to union-dues deductions after unions led by the Service Employees International Union diverted over $100 million a year in Medicaid payments meant for caregivers. He wrote there is "no grace period" and the administration said it will use existing Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services tools to stop the deductions.
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KEY FACTS
- The article alleges unions led by the Service Employees International Union diverted over $100 million a year from Medicaid payments intended for home care providers.
- A Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services rule in 2018 clarified that assigning Medicaid payments to a third party is prohibited under federal law.
- The article states the Biden administration repealed the 2018 CMS rule in 2022, which the piece says enabled unions to intercept Medicaid payments.
- The administration said it will use existing Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services tools to stop the deductions.
- Oz’s letters state there is “no grace period” for states to continue deductions without documented explicit consent.
HISTORICAL CONTEXT
The immediate backdrop is the intense national security and political climate after the coordinated U.S.-Israel strikes on Iran beginning in March 2026 and the ensuing retaliatory Iranian strikes, which have sharpened partisan scrutiny of federal agencies and budget flows.
At the center of the policy issue are Medicaid rules and federal labor-law doctrine: Medicaid was created by the Social Security Amendments of July 30, 1965, and CMS administers allowable uses of federal Medicaid funds; labor-law precedent changed materially after the Supreme Court’s Janus v.
Brief
Mehmet Oz has pressed nine state governments to prove that home care workers explicitly consented before states deducted union dues from Medicaid-funded payments, and his office alleges unions diverted more than $100 million of those payments to the Service Employees International Union (SEIU).
Oz's letters demand documentation of consent and notify states the administration may invoke Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services authorities to halt the deductions if they cannot verify that workers agreed.
The Washington Examiner report provides Oz's framing and the dollar figure at the center of his complaint; it does not include responses from the named states, from SEIU, or from affected home care workers.
Oz frames the issue as protecting caregiver pay and preventing state-facilitated union fee diversion, while the lack of cited comment from unions or states leaves the unions' side of the dispute unreported in this piece.
The timing of the letters and the focus on Medicaid-funded payments — rather than private payroll arrangements — matter because CMS rules govern the administration of those federal funds, and Oz explicitly tied potential enforcement to CMS tools.
The core documented claims are clear: Oz alleges over $100 million was diverted to SEIU and that states must show affirmative worker consent for any dues deductions; what remains unconfirmed in the source is whether the funds were in fact diverted as alleged, how many individual caregivers are affected, and how states or SEIU will respond.
Next steps likely include states' production of consent records and possible CMS action to block further deductions if records are insufficient, but the Washington Examiner story does not report any state or union responses or any ongoing CMS proceedings.
Sources
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