The Senate confirmed Dr. Mehmet Oz as the new administrator of the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS), doing so by a 53-45 margin.
Most senators voted along party lines. Oz’s confirmation will likely portend policy and regulatory shifts that may impact ambulatory surgery centers (ASCs).
Oz’s public statements during his confirmation hearings focused heavily on post-acute care and skilled nursing concerns, but he also hinted at broader reimbursement and regulatory changes.
He pledged to continue efforts to reduce CMS’s overall bureaucratic footprint, an initiative begun under the Trump administration and now championed by Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., including reducing its workforce from 82,000 to 62,000 employees and consolidating 28 divisions into 15 departments.
Such moves could potentially translate into streamlined approvals and simplified reporting requirements for ASCs, or an administrative backlog.
Oz has been critical about certain managed care practices in the past, specifically critiquing Medicare Advantage preauthorization and overbilling, and has mentioned risk coding and prior authorizations as areas he plans to examine in Medicare Advantage.
“Part of this is just recognizing there is a new sheriff in town,” Oz said in March. “We actually have to go after places and areas where we’re not managing the American people’s money well.”
Since many ASCs rely on MA plans for reimbursement, any CMS action to standardize or tighten MA guidelines could directly affect preauthorization processes and reimbursement timelines.
While Oz dodged questions about the proposed $880 billion in Medicaid cuts, he did acknowledge the need to maintain key health care services for beneficiaries who rely on CMS programs.
For ASCs serving Medicaid populations, any large budget reductions could influence payment rates and case mix. Oz’s stance on budget measures is expected to become more apparent in the coming months.
