USofCare Statement on the Confirmation of Dr. Oz as CMS Administrator

Washington, DC — In response to the confirmation of Dr. Mehmet Oz to serve as Administrator of the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS), United States of Care CEO and Co-Founder Natalie Davis released the following statement:

“As a former CMS employee, I know how critical this agency’s role in our health care system is – and how many millions of people rely on it to keep them covered and healthy. With the confirmation of Dr. Mehmet Oz as the next Administrator of CMS, United States of Care is ready to work with CMS to build durable people-centered federal policy that meets people’s health care needs. We will continue to advance the policies we know people want – including establishing transparency and fairness with health care prices and strengthening primary care.

“Similarly, we look forward to a continued partnership with CMS in moving the health care system away from a broken fee-for-service health care approach. Under both Republican and Democratic administrations, CMS has been a driving force in the shift towards a patient-first (or value-based) health care system. We will continue to work with the CMS Innovation Center (CMMI) to build and help implement patient-first health care models aimed at delivering a whole-person care experience for people. We look forward to working with CMS to integrate a patient-first care approach into the structure of Medicare and other programs. 

We stand ready to partner with Dr. Oz and CMS in pursuit of more efficiency and innovation in health care. Any reforms should apply a people-centered focus and should not come at the expense of the millions of people who rely on CMS and the programs it manages for high quality, dependable health care coverage. We’ve talked to over 30,000 people across all fifty states. We know that fears about their health care not being there when they need it are top of mind across the political spectrum. Undermining people’s access to affordable health care made possible by critical programs like Medicare, Medicaid, CHIP, and the Affordable Care Act without carefully considering the impact on people will only make those fears worse.

“The Make America Healthy Again agenda with Dr. Oz’s leadership could focus on how we can strengthen our health care system to make it more dependable and treat people as partners in their health care. We look forward to working with CMS to build and implement people-centered solutions and make our health care system work better for everyone.”

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