Dr. Oz makes no commitment to not cut Medicaid

Dr. Mehmet Oz testifies before the Senate Finance Committee on Friday.

Photo: Susan Morse/C-Span screen shot

In a Senate Finance Committee confirmation hearing Friday to lead the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, Dr. Mehmet Oz would make no commitment to not cut Medicaid.

Senate Finance Committee Ranking Member Ron Wyden, D-Oregon, asked the CMS nominee whether he would make cuts to the Medicaid program.

"I want to make sure patients have resources to protect them if they get ill," Oz began to answer before Wyden cut him off, asking for a "yes" or "no" answer.

"The way you protect Medicaid is making sure it is viable at every level, which includes having enough practitioners to afford the services, paying them enough to do what you request of them and making sure that patients are able to actually use Medicaid," Oz answered.

Some Republicans have proposed reducing spending by making cuts to Medicaid. The spending bill that passed on Friday went through as a stop-gap measure to avoid a government shutdown and included no cuts to the program.

Oz told the committee he supported Medicaid work requirements.

Oz also talked about giving patients the data they need to monitor their own health, in efforts to reduce both chronic disease and spending.

One tactic that would work, he said, would be to give real-time information from physicians and other providers to patients on their well-being. He said there could be a resource to call or perhaps there could be reimbursement for choices of healthy lifestyles.

"I think that dramatically changes the power dynamic," Oz said. "Make the American people feel they are the experts on their well-being."

Oz also discussed the ability of technology and AI to reduce CMS administrative processes, including pre-authorization.

An estimated 12% of CMS' budget is spent on bureaucratic processes, and much of the money goes to middlemen, Oz said. 

Technology has the ability to automate a lot of these processes, which would cut administrative costs and help reduce the frustration of pre-authorization, according to Oz.

Oz said he intends to go after some Medicare Advantage insurers that take actions, amounting to fraud, to boost payments by upcoding patient illnesses, as insurers are paid based upon the severity of illnesses of members, according to The Wall Street Journal. Sen. Bill Cassidy, a Louisiana Republican, as well as Democrats Sen. Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts and Sen. Peter Welch of Vermont all asked about Medicare Advantage.

In November, then President-elect Donald Trump nominated the TV celebrity, cardiothoracic surgeon and former Senate candidate as secretary of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services.

Oz has no direct experience in the Medicare and Medicaid agency. In 2018, Trump appointed Oz to the Presidential Council on Sports, Fitness and Nutrition, reappointing him to the position in 2020.

In 2022, Oz ran unsuccessfully for Senate in Pennsylvania, losing to Democrat John Fetterman.

Oz is best known for daytime talk show "The Dr. Oz Show," that ran for 13 seasons from 2009 through 2022, winning multiple Daytime Emmy Awards.

The show ended in 2022 when Oz launched his Senate campaign.

Email the writer: SMorse@himss.org