As Dr. Oz takes over CMS, hospitals hope to protect Medicaid

Mehmet Oz, MD, has made the jump from syndicated television to the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services.

The Senate voted Thursday to confirm Dr. Mehmet Oz as the CMS administrator.

The Senate voted Thursday to confirm Oz as the CMS administrator. The Senate voted 53-45 along party lines to give Oz oversight of the Medicare and Medicaid programs. A heart surgeon, Oz hosted a long-running TV show, and he received criticism from Democrats for some of the supplements he touted on his program.

Chip Kahn, president and CEO of the Federation of American Hospitals, congratulated Oz on his confirmation. Kahn said the federation is looking forward to working with him to improve America’s health.

Kahn also made a pitch for ensuring that Americans don’t lose health coverage, including Medicaid, Medicare, and the Affordable Care Act.

“America’s health is only as strong as Americans’ health coverage,” Kahn said.

Kahn urged Oz to “build on the progress made extending health coverage to a record number of Americans by supporting the renewal of the individual marketplace’s enhanced tax credits while protecting Medicaid and Medicare from unwarranted reductions.”

Hospitals have been especially worried about the prospect of reductions to the Medicaid program, particularly after the Republican-led House approved a budget plan that could lead to significant cuts in Medicaid.

When Oz met with the Senate Finance Committee, Senate Democrats expressed disappointment that Oz wouldn’t make a definitive commitment to protect Medicaid from funding cuts.

During the hearing, Oz said, “I cherish Medicaid, and I've worked within the Medicaid environment quite extensively.”

While declining to say specifically that he would oppose cuts to Medicaid, Oz said, “I want to make sure that the patients today and in the future, have resources to protect them if they get ill. The way you protect Medicaid is by making sure that it's viable at every level.”

America’s Essential Hospitals, which represents safety net hospitals, sent a letter to congressional leaders this week to urge them to preserve funding to Medicaid.

“We must share our deep concern with policies that would dramatically change the Medicaid program in a manner that hurts patients and essential health care providers nationwide,” the group said.

The group also argued against proposals to allow states to reduce their contributions to Medicaid. “Allowing states flexibility in financing their share of their Medicaid program directly affects access to care,” the hospital group said in the letter.

America’s Essential Hospitals also argued against the implementation of work requirements for Medicaid recipients, noting that the majority of Medicaid recipients are working.

Hospitals have been worried that reductions on Medicaid would result in more people showing up without coverage, with hospitals ultimately providing more uncompensated care. Plus, Medicaid offers critical funding to safety net hospitals and hospitals in rural America, and health systems say reductions would add to their cost pressures.

Fitch Ratings has warned that Medicaid cuts could derail the economic recovery of the nonprofit hospital sector.

The CMS’s programs touch the lives of 160 million people, or roughly 1 in 2 Americans, through Medicare, Medicaid, the Children’s Health Insurance Program and the Affordable Care Act marketplaces.

Oz has spoken favorably about Medicare Advantage programs in the past. During the Senate hearing, he expressed concerns about some of the higher rates of Medicare Advantage programs.

Kahn urged Oz to pay close attention to Medicare Advantage programs, which serve more than 30 million Americans, including over half of all Medicare beneficiaries.

“It’s also mission critical for the new Administrator to act on behalf of over half of Medicare beneficiaries and ensure Medicare Advantage does no harm, providing the care seniors need, when they need it,” Kahn said.