Donald Berwick Rations the Facts With His Eyes Open
Former Medicare chief Dr. Donald Berwick published an op-ed in today’s Boston Globe in which he endorses Professor Elizabeth Warren for her support of Obamacare. Unfortunately, however, the column reveals that Dr. Berwick must not have learned much about the Medicare program during his time at CMS, given many of his statements:
“Obamacare reduce costs…” That’s not what Medicare’s own actuary said. Earlier this year, the actuary published an analysis indicating the law would raise costs by more than $478 billion. Last year, the actuary testified before Congress, calling “False” the Administration’s stated goal of reducing health care costs.
“It targets waste, fraud, and abuse, reduces unnecessary subsidies to insurance companies…” Again, that’s not what Medicare’s own actuary said. He has concluded that over the long-term, up to 40 percent of providers would become unprofitable due to Obamacare, and could “have to withdraw from providing services to Medicare beneficiaries.” Just this week, an Alabama hospital took a different course – it decided to shut down entirely, due to the impact of Obamacare on its business model.
“President Obama’s health reforms do not cut any guaranteed Medicare benefits…” This statement is manifestly FALSE, as we have previously demonstrated. Obamacare cut benefits for wealthy seniors, by forcing them to pay more for their Medicare coverage. And President Obama’s budget proposed even further benefit cuts – new means-testing, additional co-payments, and higher premiums. In many cases, these changes are actually good policy, but they’re still cuts to “guaranteed benefits” – and no one should be dishonest enough to claim that they aren’t.
“Thanks to Obamacare, seniors can now get a free annual wellness visit…” Also incorrect. These services may be delivered without any out-of-pocket cost-sharing, but they are NOT “free” – someone ends up paying for them. In fact, all seniors end up paying, as do all Americans – through higher taxpayer spending on Medicare, and higher Part B premiums for seniors.
“Medicare and Medicaid both face challenges today, but not because of Obamacare. The challenges exist throughout the health care system, mainly in the form of rising costs.” The implication is that Medicare isn’t the problem – that health costs as a whole are a problem. But the fact is that Medicare – and particularly its focus on fee-for-service medicine – has been one of the driving elements of rising costs and inefficiency in our health care system. The non-partisan Congressional Budget Office, in a January report analyzing dozens of Medicare demonstration programs, said these programs did not contain health costs, precisely because of the flawed incentives included in fee-for-service medicine: “Demonstrations aimed at reducing spending and increasing quality of care face significant challenges in overcoming the incentives inherent in Medicare’s fee-for-service payment system, which rewards providers for delivering more care.” In other words, Medicare isn’t the solution to health care costs – it’s the problem.
Dr. Berwick’s tenure at CMS was cut short due to his many controversial remarks, most notably his (in)famous interview in which he claimed that “The decision is not whether or not we will ration care – the decision is whether we will ration with our eyes open.” Given his economies with accuracy in the op-ed, many may wonder if Dr. Berwick has also decided to ration the true facts about Obamacare with his eyes open.