Senate confirms Dr. Oz to lead Medicare and Medicaid
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Oz testifying at the Senate Finance Committee on March 14. Photo: Kent Nishimura for The Washington Post via Getty Images
The Senate on Thursday confirmed Mehmet Oz to be administrator of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services in a 53-45 party line vote.
Why it matters: It puts the former heart surgeon and TV talk show host in charge of an agency that oversees health care for 160 million Americans.
- Oz will take the helm amid sweeping staff cuts throughout federal health agencies, though CMS was spared from the brunt of the DOGE-directed reductions.
State of play: Oz ducked questions about possible Medicaid cuts and how DOGE could affect the big health programs during a relatively smooth confirmation hearing in the Senate Finance Committee last month.
- He said that he supported Medicaid work requirements and also signaled he could be open to looking at changes to eligibility for some higher-income beneficiaries of the safety net program.
- Oz also said he would "defend" and "use" Democrats' Medicare drug price negotiation program, authorized in the Inflation Reduction Act.
- Despite past support for Medicare Advantage, he was critical of some insurers' practice of "upcoding," or categorizing patients as sicker to get higher payments, vowing he would "go after it."
Addressing DOGE cuts, Oz said that he planned to be "speaking to the staff, raising morale, getting people excited" once confirmed.
- CMS has reportedly cut about 300 jobs, including in areas like minority health, program operations and local engagement.
Catch up quick: Oz, who unsuccessfully ran for Senate in 2022 against Sen. John Fetterman (D-Pa.), has no prior experience running a big government agency like CMS.
- He's drawn criticism in the past from other medical professionals for promoting treatments with no documented efficacy.
- Working under HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., he could have wide latitude within his new role — including to enact policy more in line with GOP orthodoxy.
- CMS could grant waiver requests from conservative-led states intent on reshaping Medicaid and also make key changes to Affordable Care Act markets.
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