Trump announced Tuesday that Oz, a heart surgeon he previously endorsed for an unsuccessful 2022 Pennsylvania GOP Senate bid, was his pick to lead the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS).
CMS regulates federal insurance policy and determines how much money hospitals and doctors receive in federal reimbursement. CMS operates Medicare, Medicaid, the Children’s Health Insurance Program and the federal Healthcare.gov ObamaCare exchange.
Oz has previously come under fire from other medical professionals for pushing unproven medical treatments, supplements and diets. Notably, he faced criticism in 2020 for promoting the anti-malaria drug hydroxychloroquine to treat COVID-19.
“There may be no Physician more qualified and capable than Dr. Oz to Make America Healthy Again,” Trump said in a statement, referring to the slogan pioneered by Robert F. Kennedy Jr., the famous anti-vaccine activist Trump has tapped to lead the Department of Health and Human Services.
“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. “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.”
CMS administrator is a Senate-confirmed position and the next agency head is poised to be a key voice as Republicans eye potential changes to Medicaid.
The pick comes on the heels of several other top nominees for Trump’s second administration, with the president-elect testing the loyalty of GOP senators with a number of controversial Cabinet picks.
