Dr. Mehmet Oz, President Donald Trump's administrator for the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS), pushed for American seniors to "work one year longer" because he claimed it would benefit the economy.
During a Wednesday White House briefing, Oz blamed low gross domestic product (GDP) growth for rising health care expenditures.
"We will correct that if we can get America to be healthier, because you can't be a wealthy nation without being a healthy nation," he argued. "If we're able to get the average American who today retires on average at age 61, get them just to work one year longer, because they feel so vital, so strong, so bullish about their future, because they're feeding their bodies nutrients that are essential to their high-functioning productivity. We will increase the overall GDP of our nation by trillions of dollars."
"So we will reduce healthcare expenses," he added. "At the same time, we jazz up the U.S. economy with trillions of dollars created by the productivity of American workers."