Trump taps television personality Dr. Mehmet Oz to lead key Medicare and Medicaid agency

[ad_1] Washington — President-elect Donald Trump introduced Tuesday that he has chosen Dr. Mehmet Oz — a star coronary heart surgeon who hosted a daytime tv present — to steer the Facilities for Medicare and Medicaid Companies.

The company falls beneath the Division of Well being and Human Companies and oversees Medicare, the federal portion of the Medicaid program, the Youngsters's Well being Insurance coverage Program and the federal medical insurance market. Trump has chosen Robert F. Kennedy Jr. for secretary of Well being and Human Companies. Each positions require Senate affirmation.

"America is going through a well being care disaster, and there could also be no doctor extra certified and succesful than Dr. Oz to make America wholesome once more," Trump stated in an announcement. "He's an eminent doctor, coronary heart surgeon, inventor, and world-class communicator, who has been on the forefront of wholesome residing for many years."

The president-elect stated Oz will work with Kennedy, if he's confirmed, "to tackle the sickness industrial advanced, and all of the horrible power ailments left in its wake." He additionally indicated there could also be cuts to CMS, writing that Oz "may even reduce waste and fraud inside our nation's most costly authorities company, which is a 3rd of our nation's healthcare spend, and 1 / 4 of our total nationwide price range."

Greater than 100 million People take part within the main packages that CMS oversees — Medicare, Medicaid and CHIP — in response to the company.

Oz was defeated by Democratic Sen. John Fetterman within the 2022 Senate race in Pennsylvania after receiving Trump's endorsement. Years earlier than mounting his Senate run, he got here beneath scrutiny by Congress for that includes on his present unproven "miracle" weight-loss dietary supplements . Throughout a Senate committee listening to in June 2014, lawmakers accused Oz of deceptive shoppers about a type of dietary supplements, a inexperienced espresso bean extract that he promoted on his eponymous daytime tv present.

Oz rose to fame for his appearances on Oprah Winfrey's present, and his personal weekday program ran from 2009 to 2022, when he launched his Senate marketing campaign.

Extra from CBS Information

Melissa Quinn

Melissa Quinn is a politics reporter for CBSNews.com. She has written for retailers together with the Washington Examiner, Day by day Sign and Alexandria Instances. Melissa covers U.S. politics, with a deal with the Supreme Courtroom and federal courts.