By The Epoch Times | Created at 2025-04-03 22:34:08 | Updated at 2025-04-04 16:47:55
18 hours ago
In a party-line vote, Democrats opposed Oz over questions regarding cuts to Medicaid, while Republicans praised his intention to reform the program.
Dr. Mehmet Oz has been confirmed as administrator of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services.
The Senate approved the former attending physician at New York-Presbyterian Hospital and professor of surgery at Columbia University in a 53–45 party-line vote.
Oz, best known as the celebrity host of a long-running syndicated television program featuring health-related topics, was nominated by President Donald Trump to lead the agency, which administers health coverage payments for more than 160 million people and spends one in five taxpayer dollars through Medicare, Medicaid, the Children’s Health Insurance Program, and the Health Insurance Marketplace.
The confirmation vote came as lawmakers are considering budget cuts that may include Medicaid spending. Democrats have said cuts are inevitable, given the $1.5 trillion in spending reductions over 10 years included in the Republicans’ 2026 budget blueprint that the House passed.
Of that amount, $880 billion is expected to come from the House Committee on Energy and Commerce, which oversees Medicaid.
According to data from the Congressional Budget Office, the program accounts for 93 percent of that committee’s spending, making cuts seem likely if Republicans are to achieve their goal.
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The president has said he will not allow cuts to the program other than those that constitute waste, fraud, or abuse.
“We’re not going to touch it,“ Trump said in response to a reporter’s question on Feb. 26. ”Now, we are going to look for fraud.”
Sen. Ron Wyden (D-Ore.) opposed Oz’s nomination in part because the nominee had failed to give a direct answer regarding Medicaid spending during his March 14 confirmation hearing.
“When I asked him a yes-or-no question about whether he would protect Medicaid, he dodged, he weaved, he simply wouldn’t answer,” Wyden said on March 25.
Oz had declined to say he would oppose reductions in Medicaid spending. His responses pointed instead to ways of improving Americans’ health, thereby reducing health care spending.
“We have a generational opportunity to fix our health care system and help people stay healthy for longer,” Oz said in his opening remarks on March 14.
Sen. Maggie Hassan (D-N.H.) also opposed Oz’s nomination.
“Dr. Oz refused to commit to following the law in the event that President Trump directs him to do something illegal. That failure to commit is disqualifying,” Hassan said on March 25.
Republicans supporting Oz’s nomination focused on promised improvements to the Medicaid system.
“There is no doubt that Dr. Oz will work tirelessly to deliver much-needed change at [the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services],” Senate Finance Committee Chairman Mike Crapo (R-Idaho) said before the March 25 vote by the committee to advance Oz’s nomination.
“I will be voting in favor of his nomination, and I encourage my colleagues on both sides of the aisle to do the same.”
During the March 14 confirmation hearing, Republicans raised questions about wasteful spending, rules governing companies that set prices and manage insurance claims for prescription drugs, and lengthy delays in obtaining authorization for needed medical procedures.
Sen. Roger Marshall (R-Kan.) said Republicans intend to improve Medicaid so it will continue to be available for those who rely on it.
“We’re here to save Medicaid,” Marshall said on March 25. “We want to strengthen Medicaid for the most vulnerable.
“When you’re spending a trillion dollars on Medicaid when it went up 50 percent in five years, I think there are opportunities to address the fraud, the waste, eligibility issues.”
Sen. Josh Hawley (R-Mo.), had questioned some of the nominee’s views but voted to confirm his appointment.
In a statement on the social media platform X, Hawley said that previous comments by Oz appeared to support gender transition treatments for minors and criticize some state statutes restricting abortion.
“I hope he’s changed his views to match President Trump!” Hawley wrote on March 19.
After graduating from Harvard University, Oz went on to earn a doctorate from the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine and a master’s in business administration from the Wharton School.
