Mehmet Oz, a physician and TV personality, was confirmed Thursday by the U.S. Senate to lead the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, which provides health insurance to more than 160 million people.
Oz, who was confirmed by a 53-45 party-line vote, will take office at CMS during a turbulent time for federal health programs and agencies as the Department of Health and Human Services cuts 10,000 federal health workers in a major restructuring. Robert F. Kennedy Jr., the recently appointed HHS secretary, said 300 CMS employees would lose their jobs.
Republican lawmakers are also weighing cuts to government spending that could impact the safety-net insurance program Medicaid.
In February, the House passed a budget resolution that called for the Energy and Commerce Committee, which oversees Medicare and Medicaid, to find $880 billion in savings. This week, the Senate unveiled its own blueprint that maintained the Energy and Commerce saving target, while allowing the Finance Committee, which also has jurisdiction over those programs, to add up to $1.5 trillion to the federal deficit.
Oz, who as CMS administrator will oversee Medicaid as well as Medicare, the Children’s Health Insurance Program and the Affordable Care Act marketplaces, largely avoided questions on cuts to the safety-net insurance program during his confirmation hearing last month.
However, he said he would support Medicaid work requirements, which tie eligibility for the insurance to work, volunteer or education hours.
Cuts to Medicaid could be politically challenging for Republicans, given their unpopularity with voters and worries among hospitals they could hit their bottom lines. Another coverage issue looming for lawmakers and regulators is more generous financial assistance for people who enroll in health plans on the Affordable Care Act exchanges, which expire at the end of the year.
Chip Kahn, CEO of the Federation of American Hospitals, said the nation’s health was “only as strong as Americans’ health coverage” in a statement Thursday.
In a letter this week to Sen. Josh Hawley, R-Mo., Oz also said he would support President Donald Trump’s recent executive orders halting federal funding for gender-affirming care for minors.
Oz said he believed CMS could “simultaneously enforce” federal law mandating emergency care and “respect the many state laws” restricting abortion. Under the Biden administration, HHS argued hospitals were required to perform abortions for emergency care, even in states that banned the procedure.
Democrats opposed Oz’s nomination ahead of the vote before the Senate Finance Committee in late March, pointing to the potential Medicaid cuts.
Democrats had also criticized Oz for his advocacy for and financial ties to Medicare Advantage, the increasingly popular program where private insurers manage the care of Medicare beneficiaries.
However, he has promised to scrutinize MA insurers in an effort to rein in program costs, including by cracking down on upcoding by payers. Medicare will spend $84 billion more on MA enrollees this year than it would if those beneficiaries were in the traditional fee-for-service program, according to a report published last week by congressional advisory MedPAC.
