President-elect Donald Trump says he is nominating Mehmet Oz, MD, a heart surgeon who hosted a long-running television talk show, to lead the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS).
“Dr. Oz will be a leader in incentivizing Disease Prevention, so we get the best results in the World for every dollar we spend on Healthcare in our Great Country,” Trump said in a statement on Truth Social. “He will also cut waste and fraud within our Country’s most expensive Government Agency, which is a third of our Nation’s Healthcare spend, and a quarter of our entire National Budget.”
Oz unsuccessfully ran for Senate in Pennsylvania as a Republican in 2022 and is an outspoken supporter of Trump. In recent days Oz expressed support for Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s nomination for the nation’s top health agency, the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS).
As CMS administrator, Oz would report to Kennedy. If confirmed by the Senate, Oz would be responsible for Medicare, Medicaid, and the Affordable Care Act — programs that more than half the country relies on for health insurance.
“Americans need better research on healthy lifestyle choices from unbiased scientists, and @robertfkennedyjr can help as HHS secretary,” Oz shared in a post on Instagram last week, along with a photo of him and Kennedy together.
Oz has been accused of hawking dubious medical treatments and products on his defunct TV show. And during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, he pressured government officials to make hydroxychloroquine widely available, despite unresolved questions about its safety and effectiveness.
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Source link : https://www.medpagetoday.com/publichealthpolicy/medicare/113005
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Publish date : 2024-11-19 21:18:29
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