Donald Berwick was appointed by President Obama to lead the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid services (CMS) when Congress is in recess. Berwick’s recess appointment means that politicians were deprived of an opportunity to weigh in again on the health care reform bill that passed earlier this year. The administration says the recess appointment of Berwick helps move heath care reform along without Republican obstruction. Republicans say it is a devious attempt to obscure Berwick’s record. Berwick, a professor at Harvard Medical School is being vilified by Republicans despite the fact that he has the support of virtually the entire health care industry.
Donald Berwick will lead the Medicare overhaul
Donald Berwick’s recess appointment happened since the White House thinks that the new health care reform law calls for huge changes in Medicare and Medicaid, which insure nearly one-third of all Americans. Dan Pfeiffer, the White House communications director, told the New York Times that the president decided to act because “many Republicans in Congress have made it clear in recent weeks that they were going to stall the nomination as long as they could, solely to score political points.”
Berwick is backed by some Bush appointees
In April, Donald Berwick was nominated to lead CMS. Since October 2006, the agency didn’t have a permanent administrator. The Washington Post said Berwick is the perfect choice to oversee a Medicare/Medicaid budget of $800 billion — about one-third of all health-care spending. He is one of the nation’s leading experts on improving health care value when saving money. Two CMS administrators appointed by George W. Bush back the nomination, as well as the American Hospital Association, the AARP, the National Committee to Preserve Social Security and Medicare and also a list of local medical groups.
Bypassed is republican obstruction
Despite his credentials, Republicans want to use Donald Berwick’s nomination to whip up partisan furor over “Obamacare.” According to the Associated Press, Republicans, who use “rationing” as a code word to discredit health care reform, have seized on comments like one Berwick made to an interviewer last year: “The decision is not whether or not we will ration care, the decision is whether we will ration with our eyes open. And right now, we are doing it blindly.” Berwick also drew Republican anger for praising Britain’s National Health Service.
Revisiting health care rationing
The Post reports that consist of Pat Roberts of Kansas are trying to twist these statements. ”Dr. Berwick is the perfect nominee for a president whose aim has always been to save money by rationing health care,” Mr. Roberts explained on the Senate floor last month. The Associated Press article said when it comes to the rationing issue; Republicans argue that Berwick would deny needed care depending on cost. Supporters contend rationing already is done by insurance companies, and Berwick wants transparency and accountability in medical decisions.
More details accessible at these websites:
New York Times
thecaucus.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/07/06/obama-bypassing-congress-on-medicare-job/
Washington Post
washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/06/28/AR2010062804675.html
Associated Press
hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/U/US_OBAMA_HEALTH_CARE_APPOINTMENT?SITE=WNYC&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT
