A stick of butter became the example Dr. Mehmet Oz reached for when he tried to explain medical prices on Fox News. Oz, who serves as Medicare and Medicaid administrator in President Donald Trump’s administration, held the package up on The Ingraham Angle and said butter in America costs about a dollar for a stick like the one in his hand. Host Laura Ingraham stopped him mid-sentence and asked, “Where are you shopping?”
The interview aired Monday, after the Trump administration unveiled changes to hospital price transparency requirements. Officials described those changes as an effort to make cost information clearer for patients. Ingraham opened by pressing Oz on that goal and on what the administration can do about prices that patients cannot see in advance.
According to Mediaite, she framed the issue as a basic question of what people are charged. “We should know what things cost, okay?” Ingraham said. “We wanna know what we’re paying. What the heck is going on, and how can you guys tackle this?”
A grocery example turns into a dispute over a dollar
Oz said healthcare does not work like a store shelf. “Well, at healthcare, we write the prices in invisible ink,” he explained. “So, you have no idea what things are gonna cost.” He told Ingraham he had gone grocery shopping and brought two items with him, a stick of butter and a bag of peanuts, so viewers could follow the comparison.
From there, he put a number on the butter. “Butter in America, it’s about a buck for a stick like this,” Oz said. “If I charge you 10 dollars…” That was as far as the line got. Ingraham cut in with, “Where are you shopping?” and added, “It’s not a buck. It’s like four.”
Oz laughed and pointed back to the package he was holding. “Well, I just bought this, so it’s close to that,” he said. “Maybe I got it – maybe it’s going bad.” Ingraham answered, “Okay,” then offered her own guess about the store. “A Mamdani store you bought it at,” she said.
The remark pointed to New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani. Mamdani has plans to open five city-owned grocery stores by 2029, with some groceries offered at prices 30% below typical retail prices. Oz picked up the line and said, “Exactly,” before returning to the billing point he had started with the butter.
He finished the comparison by separating a labeled grocery price from a medical bill. “So, you buy the stick of butter, and you buy it for the right price,” Oz said. “In healthcare, we’re not doing this. This stick of butter could cost anything. You have no idea until after you’ve already made the purchase.”
The package on the desk was a Trader Joe’s stick of butter. The company’s website lists butter at $4.99. That listing sits near the “like four” figure Ingraham gave on air, and it is several dollars above the “about a buck” price Oz used when he set up the example.
Oz tied the props to the hospital rules announced earlier the same day. He argued that a shopper can see the butter price before paying, while a patient often learns a healthcare price only after the purchase is already done. The debate over who pays and when isn’t limited to Oz’s segment, as healthcare costs are set to rise sharply in 2027.
Published: Oct 6, 2026 09:45 am