Marathon Pundit: ObamaCare 6 month anniversary: Where is rationing fan Berwick?

Friday, September 24, 2010

ObamaCare 6 month anniversary: Where is rationing fan Berwick?

President Obama, who campaigned on a theme of transparency, was anything but but transparent when he used a recess appointment to place health care rationing supporter Donald Berwick to run the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services.

Six months after ObamaCare was shoved down the throats of the public, the Senate Republican Communications Center asks, Where's Berwick?

WHERE'S BERWICK?

Controversial CMS Administrator Continues To Avoid Public Hearings

“Republicans On The Finance Committee And On The House Ways And Means Panel Have Made Several Requests — The Most Recent One Last Week — That Berwick Testify. He Has Not Yet Appeared Before A Congressional Panel In His Current Position.” (“Latest GOP Request Is For Hearing On Health Insurance Premiums,” CQ, 9/20/10)

“Berwick Has Not Appeared Before Lawmakers Since President Obama Appointed Him To The Job July 7 During A Congressional Recess.” (“GOP Senators Ask Recess Appointee Berwick to Request His Own Hearing,” CQ, 9/14/10)

BERWICK ON HEALTH CARE RATIONING

DONALD BERWICK: “The Decision Is Not Whether Or Not We Will Ration Care—The Decision Is Whether We Will Ration With Our Eyes Open.” (“Rethinking Comparative Effectiveness Research,” An Interview with Dr. Donald Berwick, Biotechnology Healthcare June 2009)

BERWICK ON THE BRITISH NATIONAL HEALTH CARE SYSTEM

DONALD BERWICK: “I Fell In Love With The NHS…To An American Observer, The NHS Is Such A Seductress.” (Donald Berwick, “Celebrating Quality 1998-2008,” speech at London Science Museum, September 30, 2008)

DONALD BERWICK: “I Think The NHS Is One Of The Great Human Health Care Endeavors On Earth. It Can Be An Example For The Whole World, An Example, I Must Say, That The United States Needs Now More Than Most Other Countries Do.” (“Power” by Donald Berwick, speech to 17th annual National Forum on Quality Improvement in Health Care, December 2005)

DONALD BERWICK: “One Of The Reasons I Love The NHS Is Because It Is Political, Because The Political Voice Properly Owned Is The Voice Of The People.” (“A Case of US and Them—The HSJ Interview: Don Berwick” by Paul Dempsey, Health Service Journal April 10, 2003)

BERWICK ON SINGLE-PAYER HEALTH CARE

DONALD BERWICK: “I Admit To My Own Devotion To A Single-Payer Mechanism As The Only Sensible Approach To Health Care Finance I Can Think Of.” (Foreword to Quality in the Veterans Health Administration: Lessons from People Who Changed the System (Jossey-Bass, 1996) by Donald Berwick, p. xi)

BERWICK ON WHISTEBLOWER PHYSICIANS BRINGING ATTENTION TO DENIAL OF CARE

DONALD BERWICK: “Denying Patients A New Treatment: A Doctor Working In An NHS Trust Thinks It Is Wrong That His Patients Will Be Denied A New Treatment For Cancer. Should He Contact The Local Media? Should The Trust Punish Him If He Does? … The “Cooperation” Principle Suggests That The Doctor Should Cooperate With His Colleagues And Implies That Contacting The Media Would Not Be Helpful. But The “Openness” Principle Means That The Committee Should Be Open With Patient, Doctors, And The Community On Why It Is Denying Patients A Drug. ... If The Trust Has Lived By The Principles And The Doctor Has Not, Then It Might Be Legitimate To Punish Him.” (“Refining and Implementing the Tavistock Principles for Everybody in Health Care” by Donald Berwick et al., BMJ September 15, 2001, p. 618)