New York Times on Donald Berwick’s Continuing “Struggles”
Robert Pear has an article in this morning’s edition highlighting the controversy surrounding Donald Berwick’s recess appointment to head the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS): “Two weeks after taking office, Dr. Berwick is still struggling to tamp down a furor over past statements in which he discussed the rationing of health care and expressed affection for the British health care system.” The article repeats several of Dr. Berwick’s former quotes regarding rationing, bureaucrat-imposed medical guidelines, and his “romance” with Britain’s National Health Service. Regarding these and other quotes, “Dr. Berwick never had a confirmation hearing and has not responded publicly to critics. The White House declined to make him available for an interview.”
While once again declining to make their nominee publicly available to answer questions, the Administration attempted to rebut Dr. Berwick’s critics by claiming that they were “harping on ‘a handful of cherry-picked quotes.’” But an earlier New York Times piece last month rebutted that notion: “In fact, many of the comments have been repeated, with slight variations, in Dr. Berwick’s articles and lectures over the years.” And over a week ago, the Wall Street Journal published a lengthy series of Dr. Berwick’s quotes illustrating his support for caps on health care expenditures, bureaucrat-imposed guidelines for physician care, and other similar examples of top-down medicine.
Of course, if the White House wishes to complain about Dr. Berwick’s critics cherry-picking quotes, they can easily solve the problem by asking Finance Committee Chairman Baucus to hold a confirmation hearing for the nominee. That way, Dr. Berwick can respond to his critics publicly, and both sides can exchange views in a transparent manner. During his campaign, the President promised to televise health care negotiations on C-SPAN. Given that pledge, is a public hearing for an official heading an agency that “finances health care for one in three Americans” too much to ask?