CMS nominee Oz clears Senate committee, heads to confirmation

Dr. Mehmet Oz is on track to take over the federal agency that provides health coverage to 160 million people and pumps $1.7 trillion a year into the healthcare system after a Senate panel took a key step Tuesday.

The Senate Finance Committee voted 14-13 to recommend that the upper chamber confirm the former television host and thoracic surgeon as administrator of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services. In that role, Oz would oversee Medicare, Medicaid, the Children's Health Insurance Program, the health insurance exchanges, and a vast array of regulations on providers and health insurers.

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President Donald Trump's choice to helm CMS under Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. cleared the Finance Committee on along party lines. The Senate, where Republicans hold a 53-47 majority over Democrats, is expected to confirm Oz but has not scheduled a vote.

Finance Committee Chair Mike Crapo (R-Idaho) predicted Oz would be perfect for the job.

"His background makes him uniquely qualified to manage the intricacies of CMS," Crapo said before the vote. "He will focus on modernizing federal healthcare programs, work to fix our broken clinician payment system and will partner with Congress to achieve pharmaceutical benefit manager reform. There is no doubt that Dr. Oz will work tirelessly to deliver much needed change at CMS."

The committee vote indicates Republicans were not swayed by Democratic objections to conflicts of interests related to Oz's healthcare investments, which the nominee has promised to divest, and his vigorous promotion of Medicare Advantage and advocacy for eliminating fee-for-service Medicare.

During his confirmation hearing two weeks ago, Oz strongly seconded some Democratic accusations about Medicare Advantage, including that insurers overcharge the government and employ misleading marketing practices.

Nevertheless, Finance Committee ranking member Ron Wyden (D-Ore.) voted against Oz, saying he didn't believe him. Wyden also emphasized Oz's failure to pay about $400,000 in Medicare taxes in recent years. "Nurses and firefighters pay these taxes out of every single hard-earned paycheck, but the multimillionaire nominated to run Medicare can’t be bothered to do the same," he said ahead of the vote.

Wyden protested Oz's refusal to unequivocally state he would defend Medicaid from massive cuts. "Oz was given the chance to assure the American people that he would not be a rubber stamp for Republicans’ plans to gut Medicaid and hike [exchange] premiums. At every turn, he failed the test," Wyden said.

Other Democrats praised Oz's openness to cracking down on abuses in Medicare Advantage and targeting pharmacy benefit managers, but said that their concerns about Medicaid were paramount — and that they simply cannot trust him.

"Oz has shown a dangerous willingness to say or do anything that President Trump directs him to do," Sen. Maggie Hassan (D-N.H.) said before the vote. "Oz refused to commit to following the law in the event that President Trump directs him to do something illegal. That failure to commit is disqualifying."

Republicans were quick to embrace Oz when Trump first picked him for CMS administrator, but he has attracted some conservative criticism.

Sen. Josh Hawley (R-Mo.), who does not sit on the Finance Committee, has expressed concern about Oz's past support for abortion rights and about episodes of his TV show that were supportive of transgender children and their families. Hawley has not, however, declared he would oppose Oz's confirmation.

At his confirmation hearing, Oz said he would adhere to Trump's agenda on those issues.