{"id":911547,"date":"2026-06-09T15:16:26","date_gmt":"2026-06-09T20:16:26","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/2026\/06\/09\/dr-ozs-big-medicare-project-leaked-tons-of-social-security-numbers\/"},"modified":"2026-06-09T15:16:26","modified_gmt":"2026-06-09T20:16:26","slug":"dr-ozs-big-medicare-project-leaked-tons-of-social-security-numbers","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/2026\/06\/09\/dr-ozs-big-medicare-project-leaked-tons-of-social-security-numbers\/","title":{"rendered":"Dr. Oz\u2019s Big Medicare Project Leaked Tons of Social Security Numbers"},"content":{"rendered":"
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The Trump administration exposed the private Social Security numbers of dozens of health care providers while setting up a new Medicare portal.<\/span><\/p>\n

The Washington Post<\/i><\/span> <\/span>reports<\/a> that the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, or CMS, which is run by Administrator <\/span>Dr. Mehmet Oz<\/a>, made the error while creating a directory last year to help senior citizens find doctors and medical providers that accept certain insurance plans. In the process, the agency ended up using a publicly accessible database that contained some of the providers\u2019 Social Security information, linked to their names and other personal data.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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The numbers were publicly exposed for weeks until the <\/span>Post<\/i> <\/span>flagged it for the agency on Tuesday. CMS did not respond to the paper\u2019s inquiries on whether it had notified any of the providers, or exactly how many numbers were exposed (the <\/span>Post<\/i> <\/span>identified at least dozens).<\/span><\/p>\n

A CMS spokesperson did tell the <\/span>Post<\/span><\/i> that the agency was working to fix the problem, blaming it on the providers for entering their information in the wrong fields.<\/span><\/p>\n

The problem \u201cstems from incorrect entries of provider or provider-representative-supplied information in the wrong places,\u201d the spokesperson said in a statement. \u201cThe agency has taken steps to address it promptly and reinforce safeguards around data submission and validation.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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\u201cI don\u2019t even know how [Medicare officials] would get my Social Security number,\u201d one doctor told the <\/span>Post<\/span><\/i> anonymously out of fear of identity theft.<\/span><\/p>\n

The issue may have been created thanks to Elon Musk\u2019s Department of Government Efficiency, which <\/span>laid off<\/span><\/a> hundreds of CMS employees last year, including those who <\/span>assisted<\/span><\/a> the elderly. On top of that, the directory was <\/span>full of errors<\/span><\/a> when it was introduced last October, displaying contradictory and incorrect information.<\/span><\/p>\n

All of this is a recipe for disaster for the disabled and elderly Americans who rely on Medicare, not to mention those whose personal information was leaked to the public. It\u2019s another black mark on the record of <\/span>Oz<\/span><\/a>, the snake-oil salesman and daytime TV host tapped by President Trump to head the agency. <\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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Alex Jones\u2019s final meltdown on InfoWars was a defiant rejection of the company\u2019s new ownership.<\/p>\n

Satirical outlet The Onion<\/i> bought the far-right conspiracy network, ending what was arguably Jones\u2019s most successful endeavor and marking the beginning of his descent into irrelevancy. But as the minutes ticked down to dead air, Jones vowed to return to the limelight\u2014even if he doesn\u2019t make a dime.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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\u201cThey\u2019re turning the power off at midnight,\u201d Jones <\/span>said<\/a>, surrounded by people toasting the network. \u201cPrivate detectives are coming in to close the doors. And they\u2019re gonna act like they\u2019ve got their big ass victory.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Jones pledged that he already had a new venture in the works where he would continue to air his controversial and baseless beliefs.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cAnd I will sit there and live in a modest house with a modest car, which I love. And they think, \u2018Oh, we\u2019ll take your money,\u2019 Joe, shut up. I\u2019m ready to die for this,\u201d Jones said. \u201cYou think taking money from me does something? It makes me want to strangle you spiritually. It\u2019s a joke. It, like, empowers me.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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As Jones rose from his seat to exit, he declared: \u201cThe next phase starts, the real war begins now. It\u2019s the nuclear age.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Jones, of \u201cthey\u2019re turning the friggin\u2019 frogs gay\u201d fame, was forced out of his studio as The Onion<\/i> proceeded with its purchase. The parody company had hoped to obtain legal approval to license the network\u2019s name and brand to turn it into a mockery of itself by Thursday, but instead, the legal case passed to the Texas Supreme Court in what The Onion<\/i> CEO Ben Collins described<\/a> as an \u201cinsane, unprecedented legal stalling.\u201d<\/p>\n

Proceeds from the sale of the network were intended to go to families of the victims of the 2012 Sandy Hook shooting, whom Jones still owes some $1.3 billion in damages after he repeatedly branded the tragedy a \u201choax.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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The Onion<\/i> tapped veteran Adult Swim comedian Tim Heidecker to reinvent the conspiracy network. So far, Heidecker has floated a multi-stage redesign, which would first see InfoWars become a parody of itself, mocking Jones\u2019s various money-making schemes in which he aggressively advertised \u201chacky supplements\u201d or bilked \u201cgrandparents out of their life savings.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThen we just think that that\u2019s going to get old, but we\u2019ll have built this little brand, or sort of re-established a brand and turn it into a destination for good comedy\u2014a new streaming site, a new comedy platform,\u201d Heidecker told <\/span>Time<\/i><\/a>.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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It\u2019s official: Donald Trump\u2019s war in Iran is less popular than some of the least popular wars of all time. <\/p>\n

Sixty-one percent of Americans said that using military force in Iran was a mistake, according to a <\/span>Washington Post<\/i>\/ABC News\/Ipsos poll<\/a> Friday, placing how Americans feel about Trump\u2019s campaign in Iran on par with attitudes about the Iraq and Vietnam wars. <\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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In May 2006, three years after U.S. forces invaded Iraq, a Washington Post<\/i>\/ABC News poll found that 59 percent of Americans said that the war was a mistake. <\/span><\/p>\n

By that point in the war, more than 2,400 U.S. troops had died and the U.S. military was embroiled in some of the bloodiest fighting of the entire conflict. But the Iraq War was still more popular than Trump\u2019s so-called \u201cexcursion\u201d into Iran, which has <\/span>killed<\/a> an estimated 13 service members. <\/span><\/p>\n

In January 1973, the same year that U.S. troops withdrew from Vietnam, 60 percent of Americans believed that it had been a mistake to send troops there in the first place, according to a <\/span>Gallup poll<\/a>. <\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Trump has repeatedly <\/span>bragged<\/a> about how quickly he would have ended the war in Vietnam\u2014despite the fact that he dodged the military draft multiple times\u2014because of his supposedly resounding success in Iran. But only 19 percent of Americans say that the U.S. military campaign in Iran has been successful, according to the Friday poll. <\/span><\/p>\n

It\u2019s not entirely clear how that 19 percent arrived at that conclusion. While Trump has repeatedly declared victory, <\/span>so has Iran<\/a>. <\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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One Republican governor isn\u2019t going along with President Trump\u2019s attempt to redraw congressional maps around the country.<\/span><\/p>\n

Georgia\u2019s Brian Kemp said Friday that he isn\u2019t going to cancel the state\u2019s May 19 primary elections in order to draw new maps in time for November, following the Supreme Court\u2019s ruling in <\/span>Louisiana v. Callais<\/i><\/span><\/a> Wednesday, which severely weakened the Voting Rights Act.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Kemp still praised the decision, telling <\/span>The<\/span> <\/span>Atlanta Journal-Constitution<\/span><\/i><\/a> that the ruling \u201crestores fairness to our redistricting process and allows states to pass electoral maps that reflect the will of the voters, not the will of federal judges.\u201d But it\u2019s too late for the midterms, he added.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cVoting is already underway for the 2026 elections,\u201d Kemp said. \u201cBut it\u2019s clear that Callais requires Georgia to adopt new electoral maps before the 2028 election cycle.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Several Republican-run states, particularly in the South are <\/span>scrambling<\/span><\/a> to make changes to their congressional maps due to the high-court ruling, including <\/span>Florida<\/span><\/a>, Mississippi, Tennessee, and South Carolina. Louisiana Governor Jeff Landry even announced that he was suspending his state\u2019s May 16 primary elections in order to redraw the state\u2019s congressional map.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Still, Trump is not likely to be happy that one Republican governor won\u2019t follow along with his efforts, especially in Georgia, where the president still claims that Joe Biden winning the state in 2020 was rigged due to fraud. Kemp was in his first term as governor at the time, and Trump held him <\/span>responsible<\/span><\/a> for not overturning the results. Kemp might see an angry Truth Social post directed at him pretty soon. <\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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The president\u2019s elder sons are making money hand over fist off of their father\u2019s office.<\/p>\n

At least two companies tied to Don Jr. and Eric Trump have won large government contracts, setting the stage for the Trump family to make a sizable chunk of change from their involvement in the federal government.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Powerus, a drone manufacturer led by former U.S. Army Special Operations veterans, was founded last year. Trump\u2019s two sons became tied to the company\u2019s board after it merged with a golf club in March, a decision that took the company public via a <\/span>reverse merger<\/a>. The brothers\u2019 investment firm, American Venture, has backed the combined entity, and their boutique investment bank, Dominari Securities, was also involved in the transaction.<\/span><\/p>\n

This past week, the U.S. Air Force agreed to buy an undisclosed number of drones from Powerus as America\u2019s war with Iran hits the 60-day mark. The company\u2019s co-founder, Brett Velicovich, claimed the decision had nothing to do with its investors\u2019 obvious ties to the White House.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cThey\u2019re not going to pick a system because of who\u2019s on an investor list,\u201d Velicovich told <\/span>Bloomberg<\/a>. \u201cThey\u2019re picking because they need it now.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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There are at least 187 drone manufacturers based in the United States, according to a November <\/span>report<\/a> from Georgetown\u2019s Center for Security and Emerging Technology.<\/span><\/p>\n

But that isn\u2019t the Trump family\u2019s only financial coup this week: A shell company backed by Don Jr. and Eric agreed to merge with a major tungsten mine in Kazakhstan that just last year secured $1.6 billion in U.S. government support.<\/span><\/p>\n

The two brothers bought into a construction company, Skyline Builders, last August, through a special-purpose vehicle arranged by Dominari Securities, sources told the <\/span>Financial Times<\/i><\/a>. <\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Weeks later, in September, Kazakhstan\u2019s President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev told Donald Trump that he intended to award a major tungsten project to U.S. investment group Cove Kaz Capital, an entity backed by the U.S. government, to compete against Chinese and Russian mining companies. That story emerged in the press on October 21.<\/span><\/p>\n

By October 28, Eric and Don Jr. had added almost $24 million to their Skyline investment. On October 31, Skyline paid $20 million for a 20 percent stake in Kaz Resources, a subsidiary of Cove Capital, an investment company that controls Cove Caz.<\/span><\/p>\n

Cove Capital\u2019s deal with the National Mining Company of Kazakhstan became public on November 6, with an announcement that they would jointly develop \u201cthe largest known undeveloped tungsten resource in the world.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Cove Kaz Capital and Kaz Resources agreed to merge with the brothers\u2019 investment firm, Skyline, on Thursday, reported the Financial Times,<\/i> which noted that there was no mention of either Trump brother in the merger announcement.<\/p>\n

A representative for Don Jr. denied that he had any knowledge of his father\u2019s dealings prior to the initial investment or the merger.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cDon is a passive investor in American Ventures and has no operational involvement in the company,\u201d his spokesperson told the Financial Times<\/i>. \u201cHe does not interface with the federal government on behalf of any company he invests in or advises.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

Read More<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The Trump administration exposed the private Social Security numbers of dozens of health care providers while setting up a new Medicare portal. The Washington Post reports that the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, or CMS, which is run by Administrator Dr. Mehmet Oz , made the error while creating a directory last year to<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":911548,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[35359,108318],"tags":[9366,150116],"class_list":["post-911547","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-medicare","category-ozs","tag-medicare","tag-ozs"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/911547","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=911547"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/911547\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/911548"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=911547"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=911547"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=911547"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}