Trump names TV personality Mehmet Oz as Medicare, Medicaid chief
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President-elect Donald Trump nominated celebrity doctor Mehmet Oz to lead the Centres for Medicare and Medicaid Services.
PHOTO: AFP
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WASHINGTON – President-elect Donald Trump nominated celebrity doctor Mehmet Oz
“America is facing a healthcare crisis, and there may be no physician more qualified and capable than Dr Oz to Make America Healthy Again
The surprise pick, like the selection of Mr Kennedy last week, shows Trump is turning to unconventional outsiders with novel resumes in an effort to radically overhaul the nation’s health agencies.
Dr Oz, who first came to prominence when he was dubbed “America’s doctor” on Oprah Winfrey’s top-rated daytime television show, is a surgeon with no government experience.
The appointment “falls under the ‘burn it all down’” ethos of Trump when tapping health officials, said Mr David Amsellem, a pharmaceutical analyst at Piper Sandler, in an e-mail.
Senator Bill Cassidy, a physician who is expected to chair the Senate Health, Education, Labour and Pensions Committee that will vet the nomination in the next Congress, expressed support in a post on social media platform X.
“It has been over a decade since a physician has been at the helm of CMS, and I look forward to discussing his priorities,” Mr Cassidy wrote.
Dr Oz ran for Senate in Pennsylvania in 2022, and with Trump’s endorsement, defeated former Bridgewater Associates chief executive officer Dave McCormick in a fiercely contested Republican primary. He subsequently lost to Democrat John Fetterman in the general election.
During the Covid-19 pandemic, Dr Oz became an informal health adviser to Trump, who was then serving his first White House term. Dr Oz promoted the use of unproven medicines to treat the virus, including the anti-malaria drug hydroxychloroquine.
The Food and Drug Administration revoked emergency use of the drug, citing “known and potential risks”.
If confirmed as head of CMS, Dr Oz would have a central role in overseeing healthcare policy, including federal insurance programmes that provide coverage to millions of older Americans and the poor.
Medicare covers more than 67 million seniors and people with disabilities, while Medicaid covers almost 80 million low-income Americans.
The pick adds uncertainty for the companies that rely on federal health programmes for revenue, from the largest US insurers such as UnitedHealth Group Inc and Elevance Health Inc, to large hospital operators like HCA Healthcare Inc.
Dr Oz was not on most of the public shortlists speculating about who Trump might tap to lead the agency. He is not known for expertise in health financing or policy, the bread-and-butter work of CMS.
Long affiliated with NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital, he is known for his embrace of alternative and unconventional treatments. He has also drawn criticism for promoting unproven products, including supplements and vitamins.
CMS also oversees the Affordable Care Act (ACA) exchanges, also known as Obamacare markets, a Democratic policy achievement that Trump tried to uproot during his first term.
The President-elect has long wanted to scrap the ACA. When pressed on what he wanted to see in its place during a debate with his election opponent Vice-President Kamala Harris, Trump declined to offer specifics, saying he had the “concepts of a plan” in mind.
Republicans failed to repeal the law when Trump was in previously in office. BLOOMBERG
