President Trump on Friday swore in Mehmet Oz as administrator for the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS), granting the former TV host vast influence over the nation’s largest public health insurance program.
At the swearing-in ceremony held in the Oval Office, Trump lauded Oz as an “internationally acclaimed heart and lung surgeon,” quipping “how convenient” it was that Oz attended Harvard University. The Trump administration has been engaged in an escalating back-and-forth with the university over its refusal to heed the White House’s demands in exchange for federal funding.
“We’re delighted to swear in Dr. Mehmet Oz as the next Administrator of the Centers for Medicine and Medicaid Services, which is a big deal,” said Trump, misnaming the full title of CMS.
“As CMS administrator, Dr. Oz will work tirelessly to strengthen and protect Medicare for our nation’s seniors and Medicaid for the needy, just as I promised. There will be no cuts. We’re not going to have any cuts. We’re going to have only help,” he added.
The Senate voted 53-45 along party lines to confirm Oz earlier this month.
In his remarks, Oz said he wanted to “provide America with access to great care.”
“Now, if we’re going to do that, we’ve got to be honest with each other,” said Oz. “We’ve got to share dues.”
Oz listed four bullet points, first noting how large of a budget item Medicaid is for many states, saying the program is “crowding out education, other important social programs.” He further noted how the U.S. spends more on health care per patient compared to other countries and how medical errors are often a major contributor to deaths.
His final bullet point was an observation of how life expectancy in the U.S. has fallen in recent years, following the start of the COVID-19 pandemic. While it seems to be rebounding, it has yet to return to pre-pandemic levels, according to the most recently available data.
Like Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., Oz signaled his plans to focus on chronic disease in the U.S. saying it was “the patriotic duty of all Americans to take care of themselves.”
“Because it’s important for serving in the military, but it’s also important because healthy people don’t consume health care resources,” he added. “The best way to reduce drug spending is to use less drugs, because you don’t need them, because you’re healthy, and it feels a lot better.”
Aligning with the administration’s aims of seeking waste, fraud and abuse, Oz said will he go after fraudulent practices in Medicaid, listing off brokers who enroll unknowing patients into plans without their knowledge, funds spent on undocumented migrants, individuals eligible for Medicaid in more than one state and program funds being used for non-medical expenses like childcare.
“Together, we’re going to make the care better. We’re going to make… the outcomes improve, and we’re going to make sure that America can actually be the healthiest country it could ever possibly be. We’ll make America healthy again,” said Oz.
After his remarks, Trump began to take questions from reporters but abruptly stopped after a member of Oz’s party, a young girl, apparently collapsed and was rushed out of the Oval Office.
