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The Biden administration’s outgoing Medicaid chief said on Wednesday that Republican ideas to overhaul Medicaid are “just plain bad policy” and will hurt the program’s low-income enrollees. (Herman, 11/20)

With Republicans set to control Washington, conservative lawmakers and policy experts who could advise the next Trump administration are discussing long-sought cuts to Medicaid, the government health program that covers roughly a fifth of all Americans and makes up about 10 percent of the federal budget. Some of the changes are being proposed as a way to pay for a law that would extend the tax cuts from the first Trump administration, most of which benefited corporations and wealthier Americans. The policies might slash funding for Obamacare’s Medicaid expansion — which added roughly 23 million people to the program — or require that many enrollees work in order to receive benefits. (Kliff and Weiland, 11/20)

With Republicans set to assume control in Washington, disability advocates are warning that proposals are in the works to drastically reshape Medicaid and undermine the nation’s system of home and community-based services. (Diament, 11/21)

“Nominating a person who has promoted unproven medical treatments for personal gain, opposed the Affordable Care Act and supports the further privatization of Medicare to oversee the healthcare for millions of people, including seniors, will have devastating consequences,” said Tony Carrk, executive director of government watchdog Accountable. US. “President-elect Trump is helping his friends, but the rest of us get higher costs, less coverage, and weakened protections — especially those with pre-existing conditions,” Carrk said. As of 2022, Oz and his wife owned up to $600,000 in UnitedHealth Group stock and up to $100,000 in shares of CVS Health, which owns Aetna, according to Accountable. US. Both companies are large Medicare Advantage providers. Medicare Advantage is a private-company alternative to traditional Medicare. (Hall, 11/20)

When Trump made his CMS nomination announcement, he said Oz “will also cut waste and fraud within our Country’s most expensive Government Agency, which is a third of the Nation’s Healthcare spend, and a quarter of our entire National Budget.” There seems to be plenty of waste, and possibly fraud, for Oz to try eliminating from Medicare and Medicaid. (Eisenberg, 11/20)

The heart surgeon turned TV star has championed healthy lifestyle habits. But he’s also promoted sham diet pills and ineffective Covid-19 treatments. (Blum, Schmall and Agrawal, 11/20)

President-elect Donald Trump’s pick to run the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, Dr. Mehmet Oz, is seemingly drawing more enthusiasm from Senate Republicans than Trump’s selection to run HHS, Robert F. Kennedy Jr. Some GOP senators have not been publicly enthusiastic about Kennedy’s selection. But Senate Republicans across the ideological spectrum — and even the Democrat who beat Oz in a bitter Pennsylvania Senate race in 2022, Sen. John Fetterman — are voicing potential support for the TV celebrity doctor. That bodes well for his confirmation: Senate Republicans can confirm Oz without Democrats, and Democratic support would give him a healthy margin. (Leonard, 11/20)