Celebrity doctor Mehmet Oz to lead Medicare and Medicaid after Senate confirmation

Celebrity doctor and TV host Dr Mehmet Oz was confirmed by the US Senate to lead the country's agency that oversees healthcare for millions of Americans.

Oz, a former heart surgeon at Columbia University who became famous for his eponymous daytime talk show, was picked by US President Donald Trump last year to lead the Medicare and Medicaid services (CMS).

On Thursday, the Republican-controlled Senate confirmed him to the position by a party-line vote of 53-45.

He launched his own television programme, "The Dr Oz Show", in 2009, where he doled out health and wellness advice to viewers alongside true crime stories and celebrity interviews.

The 64-year-old's methods have been scrutinised by medical experts, who have criticised his promotion of unproven weight loss products and other holistic treatments.

Despite encouraging the use of masks in the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic, he then came under fire from medical experts promoting malaria drugs as a cure for the virus.

He has also promoted anti-abortion views, and said he would "potentially" support the death penalty for those dealing fentanyl.

As head of CMS, Oz will have oversight of an agency that manages healthcare insurance for roughly half of the US and also includes the Affordable Care Act, better known as Obamacare.

His appointment comes as Congress is debating cuts to the Medicaid programme, which covers medical costs for people with low incomes.

Oz has not said whether he would oppose such cuts to the government-funded programme. Last month, he told senators in a hearing that he would support a work requirement for Medicaid recipients but that such paperwork shouldn't be used to block people from enrollment in the programme.

He has noted that some doctors in the US are reluctant to take on patients using Medicaid due to its relatively low payments, and argued that expanding the programme without improving resources for doctors has reduced its quality for vulnerable patients.

“We have to make some important decisions to improve the quality of care,” Oz has said.

Oz will take over the CMS days after the agency was spared the deep cuts that US Health Secretary Robert F Kennedy Jr ordered at other public health agencies.

Kennedy's cuts have resulted in thousands of staff members losing their jobs at the Food and Drug Administration, the Centres for Disease Control and Prevention, and the National Institutes of Health.

The CMS is expected to lose about 300 workers, including those who covered minority health, and to reduce the cost of healthcare delivery.