Politics

As these efforts took shape, Mehmet Oz, the administrator of the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, launched a salvo that appeared rather serious. Last month, the former television personality said New York’s Medicaid program last year provided personal care services, covering things such as bathing and meal preparation, to roughly 5 million people.

“That level of utilization is unheard of,” Oz said in a social media video, in which he levied the allegations. He added that New York needs to “come clean about its Medicaid program.”

But the CMS chief was wrong. The number wasn’t 5 million, it was 450,000. Oz was off by a factor of 11. (He also made false claims about eligibility for the program. The video he posted remains online as of this writing.)