Dr. Oz is wrong: Medicaid does not automatically register people to vote

With the Trump administration auditing Minnesota’s Medicaid program for fraud, Dr. Mehmet Oz said Medicaid confers voting rights on its enrollees.

“By federal law, if you sign someone up for Medicaid, you also give them the right to vote,” Oz said in a Jan. 6 interview on Fox News’ “Ingraham Angle.” “It’s true for (the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program) as well. As you give out social services, you also get them registered to vote. So you’re building up a very partisan group of individuals. This is political patronage at the expense of Medicaid.”

Oz, administrator for the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services  is wrong about Medicaid registration being linked to the right to vote. A 1993 law requires most states to offer voter registration at public assistance offices, but the right to vote stems from other laws. And his comment that voter registration tied to Medicaid amounts to “political patronage” is not backed by evidence.