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Americans watching Monday’s broadcast of The Record with Greta Van Susteren saw CMS Administrator Dr. Mehmet Oz lay out commonsense fixes to the mess Democrats created with Obamacare, telling viewers the administration is focused on reducing the cost of care and finding better ways to pay for it. Oz’s appearance emphasized pragmatic reforms rather than more top-down mandates, a welcome shift after years of rising premiums and shrinking choices under the law.
Dr. Oz made clear that tackling runaway drug prices is central to lowering overall health costs, praising the president’s executive order as a step toward fairer pricing and better access for patients who are skipping prescriptions because they can’t afford them. Conservatives should welcome policies that make medicines affordable without killing innovation, and Oz repeatedly framed the EO as protecting American patients and American biotech leadership.
On payment reform, Oz signaled a move away from the old fee-for-service incentives that reward volume over outcomes and toward value-based models that reward quality and efficiency. That approach—bundled payments, accountable care models, and greater alignment between public and private payers—has long been shown to lower costs and improve care, and it’s encouraging to see CMS embrace market-aligned solutions rather than more bureaucratic control.
Oz also reiterated the administration’s intent to return Medicaid to its original, noble mission of helping the most vulnerable, not functioning as an open-ended entitlement for able-bodied adults who can work. That means cracking down on waste, fraud, and abuse, imposing sensible work and eligibility requirements, and restoring commonsense priorities so taxpayer dollars help those who truly need them rather than enabling dependency. Conservatives must hold the line: stewardship of public funds means accountability.
Rural America got a shout-out too, with Oz pointing to targeted funding and state flexibility as ways to rescue hospitals and clinics that have been abandoned by one-size-fits-all federal policies. Investing in rural health, telemedicine, and workforce incentives is exactly the sort of locality-driven, results-oriented policy that respects taxpayers and saves lives—unlike the old federal stove-piped programs that reward bureaucracy over outcomes.
If Washington wants to make healthcare work for hardworking Americans, it should adopt the practical, market-friendly road Dr. Oz outlined: bring down prices, reform payment systems to reward value, and restore programs like Medicaid to their core mission. Democrats will howl, but the American people are tired of empty promises and exploding bills; it’s time for conservative leaders in Congress to fight for choice, accountability, and lower costs so every family can breathe easier.
