Health insurers traded higher on Wednesday after President-elect Donald Trump picked TV personality Dr. Mehmet Oz to head the U.S. Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, an agency responsible for overseeing healthcare coverage for millions of Americans.

Notable gainers include UnitedHealth (NYSE:UNH), Humana (NYSE:HUM), and Alignment Healthcare (NASDAQ:ALHC), which run sizable operations in the market for Medicare Advantage plans, the private versions of government-backed insurance.

Other managed care firms, CVS Health (NYSE:CVS), Centene (CNC), and Clover Health (CLOV), are also trading higher as Wall Street analysts issued favorable remarks on Trump's latest pick.

If confirmed by the Senate, Oz will run CMS under the supervision of Robert F. Kennedy Jr., Trump's nominee for the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS).

J.P. Morgan analyst Lisa Gill pointed to recent remarks Dr. Oz has made supporting MA plans. "We can expand Medicare Advantage plans. These plans are popular among seniors, consistently provide quality care, and have a needed incentive to keep costs low," Gill quoted the celebrity surgeon as saying during his unsuccessful Senate bid in 2022 in Pennsylvania.

"We see this as consistent with our expectations that CMS under Republican control would support Medicare Advantage," the analyst argued, noting that it will be favorable for companies such as UnitedHealth (NYSE:UNH), Humana (NYSE:HUM), CVS Health (NYSE:CVS), and Elevance Health (ELV).

RBC Capital Markets and BMO Capital Markets issued broadly similar views.

RBC analyst Ben Hendrix noted that Oz's potential appointment could bode well for Medicare Advantage stocks, given his past views indicating support for an expanded role for MA plans in the healthcare sector.

"While we believe a shift to a "Medicare Advantage-for-All" system is unlikely, Oz's past affinity for MA reinforces our expectation for a more favorable regulatory backdrop for carriers in the coming administration," Hendrix wrote.

"While Oz has been controversial and a noted TV personality, his stance on expanded Medicare coverage and tackling... pricing challenges could be a positive for the industry in the long run," BMO analyst Evan Seigerman added.