Dr. Mehmet Oz, President Donald Trump’s choice to lead the CMS, is one step closer to securing the job.
On Tuesday, the Senate Finance Committee voted 14 to 13 along party lines to advance Oz’s nomination to the full Senate for a vote.
If confirmed, the physician and TV personality would lead the agency that provides health coverage to more than 160 million people through Medicare, Medicaid, the Children’s Health Insurance Program and the Affordable Care Act marketplaces.
“Dr. Oz’s years of experience as an acclaimed physician and public health advocate have prepared him well to manage the intricacies of CMS,” Sen. Mike Crapo, R-Idaho, said in a statement.
But Democrats on the committee roundly panned the nomination, pointing toward the looming threat of cuts to Medicaid. Oz largely dodged questions about whether he would support reducing funding to the safety-net insurance program during a confirmation hearing earlier this month.
However, Oz confirmed that he was in favor of Medicaid work requirements, which require enrollees to report work, volunteer or education hours to receive benefits.
“Dr. Oz is one of several Trump administration nominees that say that they recognize the real difference that Medicaid and other health programs make, and yet they are joining an administration and are supported by congressional Republicans who plan to slash the health coverage and programs that people rely on,” said Sen. Maggie Hassan, D-N.H., on Tuesday.
Medicaid is a target for spending reductions under the Trump administration, even if cuts to the program are politically challenging, given its popularity and risks to providers’ finances.
House Republicans advanced a budget blueprint last month that calls for the Energy and Commerce Committee, which oversees Medicare and Medicaid, to find $880 billion in cuts.
Though the resolution doesn’t mention Medicaid specifically, Republicans would be unable to meet their budget target without cutting major healthcare programs under the committee’s purview, according to the Congressional Budget Office.
Ahead of the vote Tuesday, Sen. Roger Marshall, R-Kan., argued Republicans’ goal was to save and strengthen Medicaid while addressing “the fraud, the waste [and] eligibility issues.”
“Some states are manipulating the system. They’re gaming the system,” he said. “If we don’t get our arms around it, there will be no Medicaid left for those who are the most vulnerable.”
Marshall also pointed to opportunities to reform Medicare Advantage, the privatized Medicare offering that enrolls more than half of eligible beneficiaries. 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 congressional advisory group MedPAC.
Oz had previously been criticized by Democrats for his support of the MA program, as well as financial ties to major insurer UnitedHealth Group.
But during his confirmation hearing earlier in March, Oz pledged to scrutinize MA insurers for practices like upcoding. “A part of this is just recognizing there’s a new sheriff in town,” he said.
