WASHINGTON — Former heart surgeon and TV pitchman Dr. Mehmet Oz was confirmed Thursday to lead the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services.
Oz became the agency’s administrator in a party line 53-45 vote.
The 64-year-old will manage health insurance programs for roughly half the country, with oversight of Medicare, Medicaid or Affordable Care Act coverage. He steps into the new role as Congress is debating cuts to the Medicaid program, which provides coverage to millions of poor and disabled Americans.
Oz has not said yet whether he would oppose such cuts to the government-funded program, instead offering a vision of promoting healthier lifestyles, integrating artificial intelligence and telehealth into the system, and rethinking rural health care delivery.
During a hearing last month, he told senators that he did favor work requirements for Medicaid recipients, but paperwork shouldn’t be used to reaffirm that they are working or to block people from staying enrolled.
Oz, who worked for years a respected heart surgeon at Columbia University, also noted that doctors dislike Medicaid for its relatively low payments and some don’t want to take those patients.
He said that when Medicaid eligibility was expanded without improving resources for doctors, that made care options even thinner for the program’s core patients, which include children, pregnant women and people with disabilities.
‘‘We have to make some important decisions to improve the quality of care,‘’ he said.