Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
Mehmet Oz Confirmed As Head Of Medicare and Medicaid Services
In a party-line vote of 53-45, the Senate on Thursday confirmed Mehmet Oz to lead the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services. Oz鈥檚 confirmation was expected; he is not as controversial as Health and Human Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. or some other Trump picks to run health agencies within the HHS. (Wilkerson, 4/3)
More Medicare and Medicaid news 鈥
The chair of a key House panel in setting Republicans鈥 tax and spending agenda said the GOP will seek savings in Medicare, Social Security and Medicaid. But Rep. Vern Buchanan (R-Fla.) said that he鈥檇 oppose cutting them. Buchanan, the chair of the Ways and Means Health Subcommittee, said that Republicans could do it by rooting out waste. (Leonard, 4/2)
The Trump administration has repeatedly said it won鈥檛 cut Medicare or Medicaid benefits, but these moves have sparked fear, including at rural hospitals. 鈥淓veryone is having discussions about these possible Medicare and Medicaid cuts. It鈥檚 almost鈥ou can鈥檛 avoid talking about it. It鈥檚 on everyone鈥檚 everyone鈥檚 lips,鈥 said Lisa Davis, the director of the Pennsylvania Office of Rural Health. (Roach, 4/4)
Under an emerging Republican plan to require some Medicaid recipients to work, between 4.6 million and 5.2 million adults ages 19 to 55 could lose their health care coverage, according to a new analysis. The study, conducted by Urban Institute researchers with support from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, calculated that up to 39% of the 13.3 million adults in that age group who became eligible for Medicaid when their states expanded the program under the Affordable Care Act would lose coverage if Congress required states to impose work rules. (Chatlani, 4/3)
A bill that would tighten Medicaid eligibility in Indiana and add work requirements for certain programs was amended and passed out of the Ways and Means Committee in just under an hour on Wednesday, moving on a party-line vote. Earlier that day, a separate committee advanced two other bills impacting the state鈥檚 low-income health coverage program, with one seeking to establish a 鈥渄iversion鈥 program to the state鈥檚 fastest-growing expense. (Downard, 4/3)
Also 鈥
The Department of Justice on Wednesday urged a federal judge not to toss out its long-running fraud case against UnitedHealth Group that alleges the company illegally collected billions of dollars from the Medicare Advantage program. (Bannow and Herman, 4/3)
