President-elect Donald Trump appears poised to tap a trio of health policy experts to serve as top deputies to Mehmet Oz, his pick to oversee the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, according to five people who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss private conversations.
Chris Klomp, a health-care entrepreneur, would lead the roughly $1 trillion Medicare program, which provides health coverage to about 68 million Americans. Abe Sutton, a veteran of the first Trump administration, would oversee Medicare’s innovation center, which tests new ways to deliver care to patients. Stephanie Carlton, a longtime McKinsey consultant and former GOP Senate staffer, would serve as Oz’s chief of staff, helping run the vast agency that also has responsibility for Medicaid and the Affordable Care Act.
Klomp, Sutton and Carlton did not immediately respond to requests for comment. Their proposed appointments are not finalized and are subject to further review, according to the people with knowledge of the planned selections. STAT News reported Tuesday night that Sutton was Trump’s pick to run the innovation center.
