Oz Confirmed By Senate
Dr. Mehmet Oz, M.D., was approved by the Senate to serve as administrator of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS). The vote was along party lines, 53-45. Oz walks into an agency reeling from cutbacks by the Trump administration and layoffs.
Meanwhile, a high-profile health influencer in the White House as a temporary employee appeared before a Politico health summit. Calley Means, close to health chief Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., said that the healthcare system has been plagued by inordinate influence from hospitals and drug makers and that CMS has been controlled by the American Medical Association (AMA). Means defended controversial HHS budget cuts and said that National Institutes of Health (NIH) research funding was not slashed.
As well today, Sen. Susan Collins, R-ME, said she was very concerned about the prospects of deep Medicaid cuts given the House healthcare reduction target.
Additional articles: https://www.fiercehealthcare.com/regulatory/dr-oz-cms-administrator-confirmation-senate-vote and https://www.modernhealthcare.com/politics-policy/mehmet-oz-confirmation-senate-vote-cms and https://www.healthcaredive.com/news/dr-oz-confirmed-cms-administrator-medicare-medicaid/744418/ and https://insidehealthpolicy.com/inside-drug-pricing-daily-news/wh-adviser-means-says-cms-controlled-ama-denies-nih-research-cuts
(Some articles may require a subscription.)
#budgetreconciliation #trump #congress #healthcare #spending #medicaid #providers
https://thehill.com/homenews/senate/5230106-medicaid-cuts-susan-collins
Physician Lobby Backs Substantial Reform
As debate over potential spending reductions in healthcare heats up, America’s Physician Groups (APG), a doctor lobby, released a report about areas in healthcare that can be cut and reform the system without impacting providers markedly. Among the proposals are:
- Traditional Medicare program — value-based care (VBC) payments and evening out benefits with Medicare Advantage (MA), including dental, vision, and hearing benefits
- MA — risk adjustment reform, electronic prior authorization, standardization of prior authorization, VBC payments, supplemental benefit scrutiny, and Star program reform
- Certain ambulatory site neutral payment reform for hospitals
Dr. Oz’s support for MA reforms and sentiment among lawmakers across party lines make MA reductions in budget reconciliation more likely.
Additional article: https://www.modernhealthcare.com/politics-policy/medicare-advantage-trump-tax-cuts
(Articles may require a subscription.)
#medicareadvantage #medicare #siteneutral #vbc #riskadjustment #overpayments #priorauthorization #epa #supplementalbenefits #star #quality #oz #congress #budgetreconciliation #trump
Trump DOJ Wants MA Whistleblower Case To Proceed
Trump’s Department of Justice is urging a federal court to reject a special master’s report that recommends summary judgement in favor of UnitedHealthcare and dismissal of a lawsuit alleging fraud in United’s risk adjustment processes. A signal that the Trump administration will be far more active on fraud, antitrust, and other matters.
Additional article: https://www.modernhealthcare.com/insurance/unitedhealth-medicare-advantage-upcoding-lawsuit-proceed
(Some articles may require a subscription.)
#medicareadvantage #fwa #overpayments #riskadjustment #unitedhealthcare
COVID Pandemics Impact On Healthcare Delivery
An interesting Fierce Healthcare article on the major impacts COVID had on the delivery of healthcare, including the advent of telehealth.
#covid #healthcare #publichealth
https://www.fiercehealthcare.com/providers/five-years-covid-19-pandemic-how-has-healthcare-changed
Drugs Get Tariff Reprieve
President Trump announced sweeping tariffs this week and has exempted imported drugs from the tax. Trump did say the drugs could be subject to tariffs later. However, medical supplies and devices appear to be subject to the tariffs. This will increase prices on medical goods.
The U.S. is the world’s largest market for pharmaceuticals, importing over $200 billion in 2024.
In other news, a bipartisan majority of the Senate Judiciary Committee advanced six bills addressing drug pricing issues, including legislation aiming to boost generic drug competition by dealing with patent practices.
Additional articles: https://insidehealthpolicy.com/daily-news/pharmaceuticals-exempted-global-tariffs-future-tariffs-still-possible and https://insidehealthpolicy.com/inside-drug-pricing-daily-news/senate-judiciary-passes-patent-reforms-aimed-lowering-drug-costs
(Some articles may require a subscription.)
#healthcare #tariffs #drugpricing
NYT Reports CDC Mandated To Cut $2.9B Of Contracts
The New York Times reported today that the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is being mandated to cut $2.9 billion of its spending on contracts. This is roughly 35 percent of its spending on contracts.
(Article may require a subscription.)
#cdc #hhs #doge #healthcare #spending
https://www.nytimes.com/2025/04/02/health/cdc-tump-health.html
— Marc S. Ryan
