As CMS Revisits Rules, Shares Oz ‘Vision,’ Experts Read Tea Leaves on MA

Apr 17
Apr 17, 2025

Since the April 3 confirmation of Mehmet Oz, M.D., as CMS administrator, news from the agency has been emerging at a dizzying pace, including the releases of the final Medicare Advantage and Part D rule for plan year 2026, a host of other rules impacting Medicare providers, the separate MA final rate notice, and Oz’s “Vision for CMS.” But industry experts are looking just as closely as what’s left unsaid in these announcements to tell us about the direction of government-sponsored programs under President Donald Trump’s Make America Healthy Again agenda.

“When we think about what was in and what was out [of the 2026 final rule], many professionals saw what was out and made a conclusion before they realized the speed and other mechanisms by which new rules are undoubtedly going to be made quickly in the next months,” points out Melissa Newton Smith, founder of Newton Smith Group.
Read more
© 2025 MMIT

Lauren Flynn Kelly

Lauren has been covering health business issues since the early 2000s and specializes in in-depth reporting on Medicare Advantage, managed Medicaid and Medicare Part D. She also possesses a deep understanding of the complex world of pharmacy benefit management, having written AIS Health’s Radar on Drug Benefits from 2004 to 2005 and again from 2011 to 2016. In addition to her role as managing editor of Radar on Medicare Advantage, she oversees AIS Health’s publications and manages the health editorial staff. She graduated from Vassar College with a B.A. in English.