Latest news with #CenterforMedicareandMedicaidServices
The Hill
5 days ago
- Health
- The Hill
Dr. Oz on Medicaid cuts: People should ‘prove that they matter'
Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) Administrator Mehmet Oz defended President Trump's 'big, beautiful bill' over criticism that millions of people could lose health coverage, saying those who would face new work requirements should 'prove that they matter.' Oz made the comments during an interview on Fox Business on Wednesday, arguing that when Medicaid was created in the 1960s lawmakers did not include work requirements because it 'never dawned on anybody that able-bodied people who work would be on Medicaid.' 'We're asking that able-bodied individuals who are able to go back to work at least try to get a job or at least volunteer or take care of loved-one who needs help or go back to school,' he said. 'Do something that shows you have agency over your future.' If Americans are willing to do that, he added, they should be able to be enrolled or stay enrolled in Medicaid. 'But if you are not willing to do those things, we are going to ask you to do something else. Go on the exchange, or get a job and get onto regular commercial insurance. But we are not going to continue to pay for Medicaid for those audiences.' 'Go out there, do entry-level jobs, get into the workforce, prove that you matter. Get agency into your own life,' he added. 'It's a much more enjoyable experience if you go through life thinking you are in control of your destiny and you will get better insurance at the same time.' Thank you for signing up! Subscribe to more newsletters here Close to 11 million people would lose health insurance coverage if the House Republican tax bill passes in the Senate, mainly due to cuts to Medicaid and the Affordable Care Act (ACA), according to analysis from the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office (CBO). Trump's sprawling agenda bill calls for trillions of dollars' worth of tax cuts, with offsets from sweeping cuts to federal benefit programs, primarily Medicaid. The bill would reduce federal Medicaid spending by $793 billion, according to an analysis from healthcare policy nonprofit KFF. Most of those savings stem from new work requirements for adults trying to enroll in the public health insurance program and more frequent eligibility checks. The bill calls for states to impose work requirements for childless adults between the ages of 19 and 64, with some exceptions, to be eligible for Medicaid. Adults would be required to work or volunteer at least 80 hours a month beginning in December 2026 to qualify for the public health insurance program. Many Trump allies in Congress have sought to downplay the impact of the Medicaid reforms, denying it will reduce access to the program. Meanwhile, several Senate Republicans have raised alarm over Medicaid cuts. Office of Management and Budget Director Russell Vought recently told CNN's Dana Bash that concerns over the bill are 'ridiculous.' 'This bill will preserve and protect the programs, the social safety net, but it will make it much more common sense,' he said. 'No one will lose coverage as a result of the bill.' Democrats have pushed hard against the proposed cuts, while GOP senators such as Lisa Murkowski (Alaska), Susan Collins (Maine) and Josh Hawley (Mo.) have pushed for changes to the bill passed by the House last month.
Yahoo
14-05-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Trump admin officials pen NYT op-ed describing welfare restrictions as an ‘opportunity': ‘Work is transformative'
Trump administration officials are championing Republican proposals to put new work requirements and other restrictions on mainstay social welfare programs like Medicaid, despite fierce protests from disability advocates and criticism from prominent Democrats. In an op-ed published Wednesday in The New York Times, Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., Mehmet Oz, Brooke Rollins, and Scott Turner — the heads of Health and Human Services, the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services, the Department of Agriculture, and the Department of Housing and Urban Development, respectively — wrote that while welfare programs were 'created with a noble purpose,' they are now 'breaking under the weight of misplaced priorities.' 'Too many able-bodied adults on welfare are not working at all,' they wrote. 'And too often we don't even ask them to. For many, welfare is no longer a lifeline to self-sufficiency but a lifelong trap of dependency.' 'This is about opportunity,' they added. 'We believe that work is transformative for the individual who moves from welfare to employment.' This week, House Republicans released the text of the Medicaid-related aspects of their large-scale domestic policy package, which the Trump administration often calls the 'One Big, Beautiful Bill.' The proposal requires able-bodied adults without children or dependents to work, volunteer, or seek training at least 80 hours per month to qualify for the low-income healthcare program. People younger than 19 and older than 64 would be exempt, as would pregnant women, foster youth, former foster youth up to the age of 26, people with disabilities, members of Native American tribes or people already in compliance with work requirements for the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families, formerly known as welfare. Elsewhere, Republicans are hoping to expand work requirements to qualify for the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, known as SNAP, which replaced food stamps in 2008. Polling from KFF suggests the vast majority of Americans think funding for Medicaid should be increased or stay the same, while a sizable majority supports work requirements for adults. The nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office has found that the proposed changes to Medicaid, along with the expiration of tax credits related to the Affordable Care Act and other provisions, could increase the number of people without health insurance by 13.7 million. The GOP's welfare proposals have prompted pushback from some quarters. Disability rights protesters were thrown out of a Tuesday hearing on Medicaid at the Capitol, while Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez has accused Republicans of 'robbing people in order to hand it over to the rich.' 'They're not just out here to cut health care for health care's sake, they have an assignment,' the New York Democrat told Rolling Stone. 'Their assignment is to cut the taxes of their donors, and to have giveaways to Big Oil, which financed their election, Big Tech, which financed their election, Elon [Musk], [Jeff] Bezos, etc.'
Epoch Times
08-05-2025
- Politics
- Epoch Times
Maryland Democrats Raise Concern Over Federal Worker Cuts
BALTIMORE—Elected officials from the Maryland Democratic Party have been raising many concerns about how their state would be impacted by the mass terminations of federal workers ordered by the Trump administration. Since taking office, Trump has The cuts have led to many federal contracts being terminated, leading to layoffs at contracting firms, as well as It is estimated that 130,000 federal workers have already been dismissed, laid off, or induced to retire by the administration, 'When the federal government makes the type of egregious cuts we're seeing now, Maryland is disproportionately impacted. We're not just another state on the map,' remarked Maryland's lieutenant governor, Aruna Miller, at a town hall event hosted by the Baltimore County Democratic Party on May 7. 'We're home to over six federal agencies, 300,000 federal workers,' Miller said. 'Roughly one in ten Maryland workers is a federal employee ... The [SSA] and the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services are both based in Woodlawn, which employ over 14,000 Marylanders—and, of the 82,000 people who work nationwide at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, 32,000 ... are based right here in the state of Maryland.' Related Stories 4/24/2025 4/8/2025 'When cuts come down from Washington, they don't land evenly. They land the hardest right here in the state of Maryland,' she added. Miller, like most Democrats, has criticized the termination of workers as being partisan: 'It is disruption and cruelty ... tens of thousands of hard-working federal employees [are being] laid off, driven by politics, not performance.' Miller's comments were echoed by Rep. John Oszlewski, Jr. (D-Md.), who represents the state's Second Congressional District, where many federal workers live. The district houses the headquarters of both the SSA and the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services. 'One of my constituents ... was fired from her job because she was on probationary status after getting promoted. She and others have literally been fired for excelling at their jobs,' Oszlewski said. He has introduced a bill in Congress to prevent such actions against probationary workers, though it is unlikely to pass given that Republicans control both houses of the body. Trump and Republicans in Congress have said the terminations are financially necessary amid record national debt. They also accused some federal agencies and their employees of holding partisan or progressive views that would make it difficult for them to execute the administration's policy agenda. Federal district courts have issued To assist Maryland's federal workers who were dismissed—and to keep them in the state—Maryland officials have started initiatives to help them get employment insurance, health care, housing, and legal resources to contest their termination. Like other states, Maryland is also looking to hire the terminated federal workers in the state's public service. '[If] you have ever applied for a job at the state ... it could be six months later that somebody contacts you, so much so that you forgot you even [applied] ... [We're] streamlining the process, and hopefully anyone that's applying will learn about their status within a couple of weeks,' Miller remarked. She said dismissed federal workers can seek resources on the state's website: The Prince George's and Montgomery County Executives did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
The Hill
11-04-2025
- Health
- The Hill
CMS tells states Medicaid funds cannot be used for gender-affirming care
The Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) is urging states to not use Medicaid funds for gender-affirming care for minors, specifically gender reassignment surgeries or hormone treatments. 'As a doctor and now CMS Administrator, my top priority is protecting children and upholding the law,' Mehmet Oz, the recently confirmed agency head, said in a statement Friday. 'Medicaid dollars are not to be used for gender reassignment surgeries or hormone treatments in minors—procedures that can cause permanent, irreversible harm, including sterilization,' he continued. 'We have a duty to ensure medical care is lawful, necessary, and truly in the best interests of patients.' CMS sent a letter to state Medicaid agencies Friday notifying them of their responsibility to make sure program payments are 'consistent with quality of care' and that covered services are in the best interest of the patient. The letter, signed by CMS deputy administrator and director Drew Snyder, claims both surgery and hormone treatments lack evidence to support that they offer long-term benefits for transgender minors and that these interventions can cause 'long-term and irreparable harm.' It adds that some developed countries like the United Kingdom, Sweden and Finland have issued restrictions on the use of puberty blockers and hormone treatments on children. However, every major medical association in the U.S. supports gender-affirming care, including gender reassignment surgery and hormone treatments, for transgender adults and minors. The American Medical Association also supports public and private health insurance coverage for the gender-affirming care to treat gender dysphoria and opposes the 'denial of health insurance based on sexual orientation or gender identity.' At least 10 states — Kentucky, Arizona, Idaho, Missouri, Florida, Nebraska, Ohio, South Carolina, Tennessee and Texas — have introduced legislation to prohibit Medicaid coverage of gender-affirming care for adults and minors, according to nonprofit thinktank the Movement Advancement Project.
Yahoo
09-04-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Trump's healthcare agenda is getting clearer
Believe it or not, there have, in fact, been other stories in the world this week beside the market roller coaster over President Trump's trade policies. Take health care. Between major announcements on Medicare Advantage, coming pharmaceutical tariffs, and Dr. Mehmet Oz's first speech to his troops at the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services, we're beginning to get a clearer glimpse of the new White House health care agenda. Here's a breakdown of the recent news. Private Medicare plans are getting a windfall Large health insurers saw their stocks pop earlier this week, after administration officials announced they would boost benchmark payment rates for Medicare Advantage plans by 5.1% this year — the largest such increase in a decade, and more than double the one first proposed by the Biden administration. The bump means carriers should pocket $25 billion in extra revenue, according to CMS. The Trump administration was widely expected to be more friendly to Medicare Advantage plans, especially after it appointed Dr. Oz, who had a long record of promoting the private plans on his show, to head CMS. The new payments were reportedly finalized without the celebrity doctor's input — he was only confirmed by the Senate late last week. But they could both boost insurers profits and help them pay for additional benefits that would attract patients. By subscribing, you are agreeing to Yahoo's Terms and Privacy Policy The bump could also exacerbate concerns about Medicare Advantage overpayments, which were already expected to cost the government well over $1 trillion during the next decade. According to the administration, the benchmark rate was driven higher by updated estimates of Medicare Fee-for-Service costs, which underpin the formula the government uses to compensate private insurers that sell advantage plans. But Jeffries' analyst David Windley suggested some politics were still at play. 'We maintain the Trump admin had its finger on the scale,' he wrote in a note to clients. Prescription drug tariffs are coming soon Trump may have backed down on his staggering round of 'reciprocal' tariffs, but the world's drug makers still have plenty to be nervous about when it comes to trade. On Tuesday, the president said he would impose 'major' new import taxes on pharmaceuticals 'very shortly.' 'And when they hear that, they will leave China. They will leave other places because they have to sell — most of their product is sold here, and they're going to be opening up their plants all over the place,' he told the crowd at a dinner for the National Republican Congressional Committee. Learn more: What Trump's tariffs mean for the economy and your wallet Trump has been previewing these tariffs for months, but details are still scarce. And as Yahoo Finance reported earlier this year, how import taxes on drugs are likely to affect consumers could depend in large part on how they're structured. Experts in both parties have argued that the US should try to reshore the production of key generic drugs, such as antibiotics, which are overwhelmingly manufactured in China and India and are prone to shortages. But some have warned that tariffs could inadvertently make those medications even more scarce, by mucking up their supply chains and making production unprofitable. Dr. Oz is all in on AI Could ChatGPT fill in for your primary care doc? Dr. Oz seems to think so. The new head of CMS held his first all-staff meeting this week, and according to Wired he talked up the potential of AI to replace many frontline healthcare workers. 'Oz claimed that if a patient went to a doctor for a diabetes diagnosis, it would be $100 per hour, while an appointment with an AI avatar would cost considerably less, at just $2 an hour,' the publication reported. He also dubiously asserted that patients rate AI-driven care on par with the service they get from a real doctor. During a panel discussion in Washington, D.C., on Wednesday about how America can fix its nagging doctor shortage, some of the guests weighed in on whether AI could help fill the gap. Natalie Williams, a lobbyist with the American Academy of Family Physicians, said she believed that the technology had a big role to play speeding up back office administrative tasks for doctors and hospitals, but that she didn't think many patients would want to get their diagnosis from Dr. Claude. Jordan Weissmann is a Senior Reporter at Yahoo Finance. Sign up for the Mind Your Money newsletter Sign in to access your portfolio
