Medicare for All is one of those ideas that sounds simple until someone puts a price tag on it. And according to Dr. Mehmet Oz, the administrator of the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, that price tag is enormous: $47 trillion over the next decade.

Oz made the rounds on Fox News' America Reports to warn that the proposal could create a two-tier healthcare system and restrict access to doctors and lifesaving medications. He didn't mince words about what he thinks the plan really is.

"It's not Medicare for all, it's Medicaid for all," Oz said, adding: "Rich people buy the care they want. Everybody else is stuck with what's left."

The $47 trillion figure comes from a Council of Economic Advisers estimate. Oz said even the most aggressive Democratic tax proposals could raise only about half the required amount, leaving a roughly $25 trillion funding gap over 10 years. That shortfall, he warned, could translate into less access to treatment, reduced medical innovation, and higher out-of-pocket expenses for patients.

Why Oz Says Medicare And Medicaid Should Stay In Their Lanes

Oz made clear he supports Medicare and Medicaid, and said President Donald Trump also "loves and cherishes" the programs. He noted that Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. believes they are designed for the populations they were created to serve.

Medicare was established 60 years ago for people aged 65 and older who had completed their working lives, Oz said. Expanding the program, in his view, could put its trust fund at risk, which he said has only "six, maybe seven years" remaining. He also said scaling up Medicare and Medicaid without understanding the consequences would be too risky, though he welcomed a serious policy discussion.

Drug Prices, Fraud, And A Surprising Psychedelics Detour

Oz said the administration is working to lower medication costs through Most Favored Nation pricing, a policy that aims to bring U.S. drug prices in line with prices in other high-income countries. He also said the administration aims to remove $50 billion in Medicare fraud this year.

Americans pay three times more than other countries for the same drugs, according to Oz, and he claimed that Congress codifying the pricing policy would guarantee $600 billion in taxpayer savings. Removing fraud, he added, could double the Medicare trust fund's life expectancy.

Oz also discussed an executive order from President Trump last April to advance seniors' access to psychedelics such as ibogaine. Citing an earlier appeal by podcaster Joe Rogan, he said the process had started, with manufacturers including Mark Cuban's Cost Plus involved in developing products for safety trials for veterans and others with post-traumatic stress disorder.

The Cost Estimates Are All Over The Map

Oz's warning echoes concerns raised by Marc Goldwein, senior vice president and senior policy director at the Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget. On Thursday, Goldwein estimated that Medicare for All could cost the government $20 trillion to $40 trillion over a decade, depending on its design, while responding to Democratic Sen.-elect Troy Jackson's call for the program.

The potential funding burden and how the government would negotiate prices are also part of the debate. Florida surgeon John Asghar has estimated that a Medicare for All-style system could require $3 trillion in additional annual federal funding by 2030 under a broad CBO scenario. Investor Mark Cuban, meanwhile, has warned that opaque healthcare pricing could leave the government "negotiating blind" under a single-payer system.

So the range of estimates is wide, the stakes are high, and the debate is just getting started.