By CatholicVote | Created at 2024-11-20 23:06:07 | Updated at 2024-11-21 10:26:00
11 hours ago
CV NEWS FEED // President-elect Donald Trump on Tuesday announced that he is nominating Dr. Mehmet Oz, cardiac surgeon, former talk show host, and one-time Senate candidate – to be the next Administrator of the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS).
The role, which requires confirmation by the U.S. Senate, oversees Medicare, Medicaid, and the implementation of the Affordable Care Act, widely known as “Obamacare.”
CMS is an agency of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), which Trump picked former presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. to lead last week. Oz will therefore work under Kennedy if the Senate confirms both men.
Trump wrote in a Tuesday statement announcing Oz’s selection to his administration: “America is facing a Healthcare Crisis, and there may be no Physician more qualified and capable than Dr. Oz to Make America Healthy Again.”
“Make America Healthy Again” (MAHA) is a slogan popularly associated with Kennedy’s efforts to remove harmful substances from the American food supply and rein in large pharmaceutical corporations.
Oz “is an eminent Physician, Heart Surgeon, Inventor, and World-Class Communicator, who has been at the forefront of healthy living for decades,” Trump continued his statement. “Dr. Oz will work closely with Robert F. Kennedy Jr. to take on the illness industrial complex, and all the horrible chronic diseases left in its wake.”
Oz wrote on X (formerly Twitter) that he is “honored to be nominated by” Trump and looks “forward to serving my country to Make America Healthy Again under the leadership of HHS Secretary” Kennedy.
Kennedy replied to Oz’s post on X: “Very excited that my friend @DrOz has agreed to run CMS. Thank you @realDonaldTrump for this outstanding nomination.”
“Welcome Dr. Oz to The Avengers,” Trump’s HHS nominee added. “Let’s Make America Healthy Again!”
Oz is best known for hosting the syndicated daytime TV program “The Dr. Oz Show,” which ran for 13 seasons from 2009 to 2022. The talk show primarily focused on health and medical topics. It was created by billionaire Oprah Winfrey, on whose show Oz used to frequently appear.
“The Dr. Oz Show” was reportedly one of Trump’s wife Melania’s favorite TV shows. The program ended its run after Oz declared his candidacy in the 2022 U.S. Senate election in Pennsylvania.
He won his party’s primary by 950 votes, but lost the general election by five points to now-Sen. John Fetterman, D-PA – then the state’s lieutenant governor.
Born in Cleveland, Ohio, to Turkish immigrant parents, Oz is Muslim.
