Oz pledges to fight health care fraud but makes no commitments on
Medicaid funding cuts
[March 15, 2025]
By AMANDA SEITZ and TOM MURPHY
WASHINGTON (AP) — Dr. Mehmet Oz promised senators on Friday to fight
health care fraud and push to make Americans healthier if he becomes the
next leader of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services.
But the former heart surgeon and TV personality dodged several
opportunities to say broadly whether he would oppose cuts to Medicaid,
the government-funded program for people with low incomes.
Oz, President Donald Trump’s pick to be the next CMS administrator, also
said technology like artificial intelligence and telemedicine could be a
key in making care more efficient and accessible.
“We have a generational opportunity to fix our health care system and
help people stay healthy for longer,” he said.
The 64-year-old was a respected heart surgeon who turned into a popular
TV pitchman. He hawked everything from supplements to private health
insurance plans on “The Dr. Oz Show,” which ran for 13 seasons and
helped him amass a fortune.
Now he has his sights on overseeing health insurance for about 150
million Americans enrolled in Medicare, Medicaid or Affordable Care Act
coverage. As CMS administrator, he could wield significant power over
most health companies operating in the U.S. because he can make
decisions about who and what are covered by Medicare and Medicaid.
Oz faced over two and a half hours of questioning Friday before the
Republican-controlled Senate Finance Committee, which will vote later on
whether to forward his nomination to the full Senate for consideration.
Leading the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services presents a
“monumental opportunity” to make the country healthier, Oz told
senators. He talked about how a healthy population cuts down on
expensive chronic diseases, and he offered suggestions of ways to help
with that.
He noted, for instance, that most Medicare Advantage plans — privately
run versions of the federally funded Medicare program — provide an
allowance for food purchases. But they give no “real advice” on how to
use it wisely.
“We don’t have to order people to eat healthy, we have to make it easier
for people to be healthy,” adding that he considered maintaining good
health a “patriotic duty.”
Republicans, who have coalesced around Trump's nominees for the health
agencies, asked Oz about his plans for eliminating fraud from the $1
trillion programs. He talked about going after insurers that bill for
diagnoses that never lead to treatment.
He also said technology like telemedicine can be used to help close gaps
in care access, particularly in rural areas. Several senators mentioned
concerns about the closure of rural hospitals in their states.
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Dr. Mehmet Oz, President Donald Trump's pick to lead the Centers for
Medicare and Medicaid Services, sits before testifying at his
confirmation hearing before the Senate Finance Committee, on Capitol
Hill in Washington, Friday, March 14, 2025. (AP Photo/Ben Curtis)
 He said rural hospitals could form
partnerships with bigger institutions in nearby cities.
“We have to revisit how we deliver rural care in America,” he said.
“We can’t depend on 100-bed hospitals that do one delivery a day to
provide state-of-the-art care.”
In response to a question about whether he would support Medicaid
cuts if they lead to rural hospital closures, Oz said he didn't want
those hospitals to close “unless we have a better option.”
Oz also would like to see limits on insurer care pre-approvals in
Medicare Advantage. He called that practice, known as prior
authorization, “a pox on the system” that hikes administrative
costs.
Oz also told senators that he favored work requirements for Medicaid
recipients, but paperwork shouldn’t be used to reaffirm that they
are working or to block people from staying enrolled.
Democrats tried to pin down Oz on potential cuts to the state- and
federally funded Medicaid program that Republicans are considering.
Oz did note that doctors dislike the program for its relatively low
payments and some don't want to take those patients.
He said that when Medicaid eligibility was expanded without
improving resources for doctors, that made care options even thinner
for the program's core patients, which include children, pregnant
women and people with disabilities.
“We have to make some important decisions to improve the quality of
care,” he said.
Oz's hearing came as the Trump administration seeks to finalize
leadership posts for the nation’s top health agencies.
On Thursday, Senate committees voted to advance the nominations of
Marty Makary, poised to lead the Food and Drug Administration, and
Jay Bhattacharya, set to helm the National Institutes for Health,
for a full Senate vote. The nomination of Dave Weldon to the Centers
for Disease Control and Prevention was abruptly withdrawn Thursday.
Those men have all leaned into Robert F. Kennedy Jr. 's call to
“Make America Healthy Again,” an effort to redesign the nation's
food supply, reject vaccine mandates and cast doubt on some
long-established scientific research.
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Murphy reported from Indianapolis.
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