LEXINGTON, Ky. (LEX News) — Dr. Mehmet Oz, the U.S. Administrator of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, visited Lexington Friday afternoon as debates over Medicaid funding continue at both the federal and state levels.
Oz stopped by the Lexington Clinic to discuss health care in Kentucky — a state where roughly 1 in 3 residents are enrolled in Medicaid. According to state Medicaid data, that represents about 31 to 35 percent of all Kentuckians.
LEX News asked Oz what he would say to Kentuckians worried that reforms could impact their access to health care.
"I think Congress and the President saved Medicaid," Oz said.
Oz argued that reforms were necessary to prevent far larger cuts to the program.
"I inherited a program - when the President appointed me to this position - that was looking at an additional $5.4 trillion in spending over the next decade. $5.4 trillion would have bankrupted Medicaid. We would have had to made draconian cuts to the system," Oz said.
Over the past week or so, Gov. Andy Beshear and Congressman Andy Barr have been publicly disagreeing over what Medicaid changes mean for Kentucky.
Beshear has pointed to the Kentucky Hospital Association, which has said 35 rural hospitals in Kentucky are at risk of closure because of Medicaid cuts.
"That is 21 billion fewer dollars running through our healthcare system. Of course, that's going to impact hospital. Of course its going to force closures where the margins are the smallest. That is just basic math," Beshear said at a Team kentucky press conference in August.
Barr, who accompanied Oz at the Lexington Clinic, has said Congress sent Kentucky more than $200 million from the Rural Health Transformation Program to help rural providers navigate Medicaid reforms and preserve access to care. He also argues that overall Medicaid spending will increase significantly over the next decade.
"The reality is that Medicaid spending over the next ten years - after enactment of our bill - will grow by $250 billion. So, I don't know in what universe these politicians can claim that is a cut," Barr said.
