Mehmet Oz Named to Lead Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services

Oz will need to be confirmed by the Senate next year before he officially takes charge of the agency. The Senate Finance Committee will have to vote on Oz before his nomination can be considered by the full Senate.

The agency, which falls under the umbrella of the Department of Health and Human Services, has more than 6,000 employees and plays a major role in shaping the health coverage of more than 130 million Americans enrolled in Medicare, Medicaid and plans obtained through the Affordable Care Act marketplaces. Trump has nominated Robert F. Kennedy Jr. to helm HHS.

Allies of Kennedy are seen as top contenders for major health posts in the second Trump administration. Johns Hopkins surgeon Dr. Marty Makary is seen as the leading candidate for the job of Food and Drug Administration commissioner, people familiar with the matter said. Makary didn’t respond to a request for comment.

Other names Kennedy has considered recommending to Trump include health influencer and Stanford-trained physician Dr. Casey Means, her brother and Kennedy adviser Calley Means, Florida Surgeon General Joseph Ladapo and Stanford University Professor of Medicine Dr. Jay Bhattacharya, who has been a critic of pandemic health measures.

The leader of CMS holds strong sway over some of the federal government’s largest and most politically sensitive programs. The agency makes high-stakes decisions around payment and policy that undergird the entire healthcare sector, including hospitals, doctors, insurers and drugmakers. Nearly $1.5 trillion flows through the agency each year, about 14% of the federal government’s annual spending.  

Oz said on social media that he was honored to be nominated to lead CMS and looks forward to serving under Kennedy, who in his own post called Oz a friend and said his nomination was “outstanding.”

Kennedy is currently renting Oz’s Florida home down the street from Trump’s Mar-a-Lago estate.

In the first Trump administration, Oz served on the president’s Council on Sports, Fitness, and Nutrition. 

Trump backed Oz in his 2022 Senate race in Pennsylvania, which helped him win a competitive primary. He ultimately lost to Democratic Sen. John Fetterman in the general election. Oz was widely seen as a poor candidate, in large part because he didn’t have a history of residing in the state. 

Oz is a physician and heart surgeon, though he is best known as the celebrity surgeon who hosted TV’s “The Dr. Oz Show.” Trump’s statement nominating Oz noted that he had won nine daytime Emmy Awards. Trump appeared on Oz’s show in 2016 as a presidential candidate discussing his medical records. 

While holding a vice chairmanship post at Columbia University in 2015, he came under scrutiny by medical professionals who called for Oz’s dismissal from the school, accusing him of “promoting quack treatments and cures in the interest of personal financial gain.” Oz defended himself, saying he presents multiple points of view. 

Oz has expressed support for vaccines, including the measles vaccine that Kennedy has linked to autism. But he has opposed vaccine mandates. Oz’s views have been shown to be influential. A 2022 study in the Journal of Communication found that after Oz endorsed the measles, mumps and rubella vaccine, more of his viewers had an accurate view of the shot.

For the healthcare business sector, Oz will be a less well-defined option than some other healthcare leaders who have previously worked at the agency. Key questions facing the next leader of CMS and its parent HHS include the extension of enhanced government subsidies that help people buy coverage in the Affordable Care Act exchanges, payments for the Medicaid program that covers low-income Americans, and negotiations with drugmakers over the prices of some medications under Medicare, which provides coverage for the elderly and disabled.

In the past, Oz has signaled support for a major role for private insurers in covering Americans. In 2020, he co-wrote a piece for Forbes that suggested providing coverage for uninsured Americans through the Medicare Advantage program, in which the federal benefits for the elderly and disabled are delivered through insurers’ plans. In the same piece, he criticized the traditional “fee for service” payment model in which hospitals and doctors are paid for each service they provide. 

An archived version of a 2022 Oz Senate campaign website suggested that, if elected, Oz would “work to dismantle policies that lead to more expensive prescription drugs for our seniors.” The campaign platform signaled that Oz still strongly supported Medicare Advantage, promising he would “expand access to private sector plans expanded by President Trump and beloved by seniors for their low costs and high quality that could be available to all Americans who want them.”

Such comments may provide reassurance to major insurers that depend heavily on the Medicare business. Medicare Advantage insurers’ practices have come under growing scrutiny from government watchdogs. The companies have seen their margins squeezed recently by higher medical costs and policies advanced by the Biden administration that limited certain billing practices.

“Dr. Oz is an excellent choice because what this administration is about is how you make a difference for people and not special interests,” said Adam Boehler, a former Trump administration health official who knows Oz. Regarding drug costs, he said, “any area where consumers are being gouged from a pricing perspective is at risk.“

Sen. Patty Murray, (D-Wash.,) said it was “deeply disappointing” to see someone “with zero qualifications” picked to lead CMS.

“We need serious leaders when it comes to protecting Americans’ healthcare and bringing down costs — not TV hosts whose main qualification is their loyalty to Donald Trump,” she said.

Write to Liz Essley Whyte at liz.whyte@wsj.com, Natalie Andrews at natalie.andrews@wsj.com and Anna Wilde Mathews at Anna.Mathews@wsj.com