Dr. Mehmet Oz, who heads the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, joined WTOP anchors John Aaron and Michelle Basch live to discuss the open enrollment, vaccines and the government shutdown.

The open enrollment period for Medicare plans began Wednesday.

From now through Dec. 7, people can enroll in a new plan or change up their existing Medicare plan.

Dr. Mehmet Oz, who heads the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, joined WTOP anchors John Aaron and Michelle Basch live to discuss the open enrollment, vaccines and the government shutdown.

Listen to their conversation below.

Dr. Mehmet Oz joins WTOP anchors Michelle Basch and John Aaron to talk about open enrollment.

The transcript below has been lightly edited for clarity.

Michelle Basch: Dr. Oz, what do you want seniors to know right now?

Mehmet Oz: The Medicare program was created 60 years ago, and it is the crown jewel of our society safety net program. And yet folks don’t appreciate how much is out there that could help them when they make some big decisions about how to use Medicare. So open enrollment, which started this week, and we’ll go till Dec. 7 is designed to help every senior figure out whether the program they were on last year is the right program for next year. Our health changes. The rules change. There’s tons of new information. On medicare.gov, we’ve got tons of new tools to help you find the right doctor. It helps should make sure the medications you’re on are best paid for by the program that you’re in. All these changes that happen every year need to be adjudicated. If you want to take care of yourself, part of that process is the peace of mind that you’ve got insurance coverage. And thankfully, Medicare is an excellent program for folks, especially those over 65, but other groups can benefit as well. But we need you to engage us. So go to medicare.gov, create an account for yourself. That way we have all your information. We’ll share it with you so you can actually adjudicate, make better choices for yourself, and definitely do this before you make a decision about any of the advertisements you see during open enrollment, pushing you to one program or another, because you might want to stay on traditional Medicare, or maybe you want to go on Medicare Advantage, which is managed care Medicare, and you want to figure out if that’s the right plan, because it offers you some extra benefits. What are those perks? Which are the ones you need? Which are the ones that are superfluous?

John Aaron: OK, so is any of that or anything else under your purview being affected by the shutdown right now? Do people need to know anything about that?

Mehmet Oz: No impact on the shutdown whatsoever on Medicare. It is a creation of our government that the Republicans and Democrats actually agree on. It is a well functioning, highly successful program and part of the social safety net for our country. So listen, we’re judged as a people by how we take care of our most vulnerable and especially elderly. And every society is and we’re a great country. We’re going to manage through the shutdown, but we’re not going to touch the safety of seniors.

Michelle Basch: Well, health care is at the heart of the government shutdown right now, both sides arguing over the ACA, what is your message to them as they try to work things out?

Mehmet Oz: The ACA is a complicated program. You need a large number of people working on it together, and right now we don’t have them. They’re all furloughed at home. Half of my folks are out of here. So if I’m asked questions about whether this idea or that idea might work better for the ACA, we all agree that it’s got problems. I mean, big problems, and it has to be addressed. The question is, what are you going to do, when you need actuarials and insurance experts? And my plea to the Democrats has been, let government go back to work again, just for a few weeks, so we actually have people in the offices that can help us solve this problem.

John Aaron: OK as the weather gets colder here, what do Medicare recipients need to know about COVID and flu shots, right now?

Mehmet Oz: They’re available. We pay for them. These are recommended at different levels of the government, and so you’re welcome to take them. Please talk to your doctor about these medications. If they’re appropriate for you, we’ll make sure you get them. And again, I’m going to emphasize this. We don’t want anyone having challenges getting access to any of these vaccines, whether you take the vaccine or not, it should be a discussion you have with someone who knows your health a lot better than I do.

John Aaron: OK but no blanket guidance that most people should get them? Even though it seems like they’re pretty effective. You think it should be an individual decision?

Mehmet Oz: I think it should be an individual decision. And some of these vaccines are more effective and more important for some people than others. If you’ve got a chronic condition that puts you at risk, of course, that moves the needle. But you know, most medical decisions, although they’re based on guidance, need to be customized to the individual. So if you’re a rock solid, healthy person who’s going to be out camping for the next year, the importance of some of these vaccines is different than if you’re living in a crowded area with lots of folks around you, you’ve got a chronic condition that might make you at risk for complications. And I’d say this to point out the fact that almost everything we do in health care, and I’m a heart surgeon, heart surgery works, but it doesn’t have to be done on everybody. So pick the people that have benefits and use it on them. But don’t use that tool, although it’s a very valuable one, for folks who may be able to avoid surgery through lifestyle, medications, etc.

John Aaron: Yeah, I guess heart surgery doesn’t benefit other people, though, right? Vaccines can benefit other people besides yourself.

Mehmet Oz: Well, some vaccines do. I mean, the COVID vaccine doesn’t really prevent transmission, as much as we would have hoped. And sometimes actually, because you’re not as symptomatic, oftentimes you won’t even know that you have the virus. But those are reasonable arguments to make. But fundamentally, this is the balance that all societies have to have between what I’m willing to do for myself that might actually have potential risks to me. A young male, for example, taking a COVID vaccine, has a significant incidence of myocarditis, that’s inflammation of the heart. That’s not without complications. And I’ve certainly managed patients myself and had friends who’ve had this complication. So that’s not to say they shouldn’t get vaccinated, but if they’re gonna get vaccinated, there should be an observable benefit to them, as well as to society.

Michelle Basch: Well, Doctor, any final thoughts before we let you go for our listeners that you want them to know?

Mehmet Oz: I plea with you, go to medicare.gov. Create an account for yourself. Get engaged. We spend so much time, thoughtful, hard-working civil servants. And this is the best job I’ve ever had, because I’m surrounded by wonderful mission aligned individuals. They work hard to make this program work. If you go to medicare.gov you’ll get information. It can be hugely beneficial, and it’ll probably save you money as well. Better pricing on medications. You’ll know where your doctors are, and you’ll be better informed. So when all those people start running ads about Medicare Advantage, you’ll have a pretty good idea whether it’s right for you or not.

John Aaron: And as you said, politics aside, Medicare trudges on. So we appreciate you joining us and talking about it this morning.

Mehmet Oz: God bless. Take care.

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