ORANGEBURG – Congressman Mike Lawler (R-NY-17) hosted Dr. Mehmet Oz, Administrator of the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS), for a visit with local hospital leaders, community health center officials, and health care providers from across the Hudson Valley on Friday at Dominican University.
Administrator Oz and Congressman Lawler held a closed roundtable discussion focused on strengthening Medicare and Medicaid services, addressing workforce shortages, lowering costs for families, and improving access to quality care for seniors and underserved communities throughout the community.
The visit brought together a cross-section of regional health stakeholders, including hospital executives, physicians, and community health advocates.
“Strengthening Medicaid and protecting Medicare is critically important to ensuring affordable, accessible healthcare to all who need it,” Lawler said. “Here in the Hudson Valley, our hospitals, clinicians, and community health centers are on the front lines every single day taking care of our sick and most vulnerable. Having Administrator Oz here with us today reinforces the importance of working collaboratively to improve outcomes for patients, expand access to care, and ensure that providers have the support they need.
Dr. Oz, a cardiothoracic surgeon and former television personality, is a Professor Emeritus at NY Presbyterian-Columbia Medical Center and has won nine Daytime Emmy Awards. The Senate confirmed Oz to be the administrator of the CMS, which oversees programs that provide health care coverage for about half of the U.S. population, in April.
“The decisions CMS makes in Washington and Baltimore affect Americans in every one of the country’s nearly 20,000 cities and towns — urban, rural, and everything in between,” Dr. Oz said. “That’s why it’s so important for us to get out of the Beltway and hear directly from people in those communities. I’m grateful to Congressman Lawler for bringing together local experts and stakeholders to work toward real, bipartisan solutions that can lower costs, increase access, and improve quality of care.”
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