WASHINGTON — Mehmet Oz, a former television host and former U.S. Senate candidate, could become the next administrator of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, an extensive government agency responsible for much of the country’s health care.
President-elect Donald Trump announced his intention to nominate Oz on Tuesday, writing in a statement: “There may not be a more qualified or capable doctor than Dr. Oz to make America whole again.”
Oz won the Republican primary in Pennsylvania’s 2022 U.S. Senate race, but was defeated in the general election from the Democratic Senator. John Fetterman.
Trump wrote that Oz “would work closely with Robert F. Kennedy Jr.,” the is nominated for the position of Secretary of Health and Human Services“to get to grips with the disease industrial complex and all the terrible chronic illnesses it leaves in its wake.”
“He will also reduce waste and fraud in our nation’s most expensive government agency, which accounts for a third of our nation’s health care spending and a quarter of our entire federal budget,” Trump wrote in the announcement.
The Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services manages the nation’s largest health care programs, including Medicare, Medicaid, the Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP), and the health insurance markets created by the Affordable Care Act (Obamacare).
67.7 million people are enrolled in Medicare, with nearly 90% of those enrollees over the age of 65. The program also provides health insurance coverage for younger people with grave illnesses or disabilities.
Medicaid, a federal program that provides health insurance to low-income people, has about 72.4 million participants.
There are 7.1 million participants in the CHIP program.
And 21.3 million people purchased health insurance through the ACA Marketplace during the 2024 open enrollment period.
Combined, the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services provides health insurance coverage to one in four Americans, according to its latest study Financial report.
The agency spent about $1.516 trillion in the last fiscal year and employs more than 6,700 federal employees as well as contractors to handle the workload.
“CMS and its contractors process more than one billion Medicare claims annually, monitor the quality of care, provide matching funding to states for Medicaid services, and develop policies and procedures designed to provide the best possible service to beneficiaries,” it says the report.
“CMS also ensures the safety and quality of medical facilities, provides health insurance coverage for workers who change jobs, and manages the largest collection of health information in the United States.”
Oz received his bachelor’s degree from Harvard University before earning an MD and MBA from the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine and Wharton Business School.
He starred in the daytime show “Dr. Oz,” which ran from 2009 to 2022.
Oz’s nomination requires Senate confirmation and is under the jurisdiction of the Finance Committee, which is currently chaired by Oregon Democratic Senator Ron Wyden and Idaho Republican Senator Mike Crapo.
Oz’s confirmation hearing will not be the first time he has testified before a Senate committee. More than 10 years ago, He testified before a Senate panel that his comments on his TV show about certain weight loss supplements were “flowery.”
Last updated on November 19, 2024 at 8:16 p.m
