President-elect Donald Trump’s choice of celebrity doctor and failed Senate candidate Mehmet Oz to run the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) marks the latest potential shakeup of federal health agencies, and adds new uncertainty to the future of Medicare, Medicaid and the Affordable Care Act.
If confirmed, Oz would take the helm of a $1.5 trillion agency that is essentially the federal government’s insurance provider. It sets payments rates for doctors, hospitals and insurers, while also overseeing Medicare, Medicaid, the Children’s Health Insurance Program and the Affordable Care Act — programs that provide coverage for more than 150 million people.
The pick continues a trend of Trump elevating television personalities for key administration roles. CMS policies and programs touch on almost every aspect of the health system, but Oz has no experience running a large bureaucracy.
In his first term, Trump chose Seema Verma, a health consultant with a long history in health policy, for the CMS role.
Here’s what to know about Oz and how he could impact health care:
His TV career made him a household name
Oz, the son of Turkish immigrants, was a prominent heart surgeon in New York before he became nationally famous. He gained prominence initially as a medical expert on Oprah Winfrey’s talk show through the early 2000s, where he discussed issues like aging, sex, diet, exercise and weight loss. She branded him “America’s doctor” as he became a regular guest.
In 2009, Oprah and her production company helped launch Oz’s own daytime series, “The Dr. Oz Show.” The show aired until Oz declared his candidacy for Senate in 2021. It aired its final episode in January 2022. The show won 10 Daytime Emmy awards during its run.
Oz’s politics during the show were unclear. Michelle Obama appeared on the show in 2013, and Trump was a guest during his 2016 campaign, an appearance in which he released the results of a physical.
Renowned heart surgeon
Oz has an undergraduate degree from Harvard and earned a doctorate in medicine as well as a master’s in business degree from the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine and Wharton Business School, which is also Trump’s alma mater.
Oz spent much of his career at Columbia University and its affiliated medical center.
He served as director of the Cardiovascular Institute at Columbia Presbyterian Medical Center and was part of a team in 2001 and 2002 that performed the first totally endoscopic, robotic open-heart operation, as well as the first robotic coronary artery bypass operation in the United States, the hospital said at the time.
He was named vice-chairman and professor of surgery at Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons, before the university quietly cut ties with him in 2022.
Dubious endorsements
Oz has a history of endorsing dubious and often controversial products and treatments, blurring the lines between celebrity pitchman and medical doctor. Critics said his show provided a platform for fringe claims not backed by evidence.
A 2014 study in the British Medical Journal found that more than half of the claims and recommendations made on Oz’s show had no evidence or were outright contradicted by available science.
During a Senate hearing in 2014, Oz was sharply questioned by lawmakers including then-Sen. Claire McCaskill (D-Mo.) over his promotion of weight loss supplements as miracles.
During the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic, Oz lobbied the Trump administration to rush trials of the anti-malaria drug hydroxychloroquine to treat the virus. The Trump administration also pressured FDA on the drug. It was authorized for use in March 2020, but was soon shown to be ineffective.
Senate Finance Committee chairman Ron Wyden (D-Ore.), who will be ranking member during Oz’s confirmation next year, mentioned Oz’s history of unscientific endorsements as an area of concern.
“Trump’s health care agenda is all about empowering fraudsters and big business while everyday Americans are stuck with the bill. Dr. Oz is no stranger to peddling nonsense to innocent Americans without facing consequences,” Wyden said in a statement.
GOP Senate candidate
Oz ran for Senate in Pennsylvania in 2022 and gained Trump’s endorsement after winning a close and bruising primary, but ultimately lost to now-Sen. John Fetterman (D).
Before he ran for Senate, Oz promoted ObamaCare and spoke favorably about health insurance mandates, CNN’s KFile reported. But his then-campaign spokesperson walked back his previous statements and said Oz would not have voted for the law.
Oz ran as a “pro-life” candidate who said abortion was “murder” at any stage in pregnancy. He drew condemnation from Democrats and abortion rights advocates for saying during a debate that abortion policy should be left to “local political leaders.”
During the campaign, Oz also drew criticism for mocking Fetterman for suffering a stroke.
After Trump announced his pick of Oz on Tuesday, Fetterman said he was open to supporting his former rival.
“If Dr. Oz is about protecting and preserving Medicare and Medicaid, I’m voting for the dude,” Fetterman said in a post on the social platform X.
Medicare/Medicaid cuts?
In a statement announcing his choice, Trump said Oz will “cut waste and fraud within our Country’s most expensive Government Agency, which is a third of our Nation’s Healthcare spend, and a quarter of our entire National Budget.”
During the campaign, Trump pledged not to cut Medicare or Social Security but made no such promises about Medicaid. With Republicans in control of government, lawmakers are eyeing long-sought cuts and changes to the safety-net program, which could be used to pay for an extension of the tax cuts from Trump’s first administration.
It’s not clear what Oz or his would-be boss, Robert F. Kennedy Jr., think about Medicaid policy.
But Oz has long been a supporter of Medicare Advantage, a private-sector alternative to traditional Medicare. In 2024, more than half of Americans eligible for Medicare are enrolled in one of the plans offered by large insurance companies, including UnitedHealthcare and Humana. MA plans also account for more than half of Medicare spending.
“Believe it or not, it is possible to get health insurance plans now with a zero-dollar monthly premium,” Oz said in a YouTube video posted to channel in August. “Millions of people already are doing it and so could you.”
During his Senate campaign, Oz promoted a policy of expanding access to Medicare Advantage to any individual who wants to enroll.
In 2020, he co-authored an article in Forbes arguing for “Medicare Advantage For All.” The idea was to eliminate Medicare and employer sponsored insurance so every American not on Medicaid would be enrolled in a private Medicare Advantage plan.
It would be funded by using “an affordable 20 percent payroll tax, which is close to the amount most employers currently spend to buy insured care.”
But Medicare Advantage plans have come under scrutiny for overbilling Medicare, having limited provider networks and routinely denying care for patients.
