"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."-- Dr. Donald Berwick
New Medicare Chief Speaks Out against Rationing
Monday, September 13, 2010
By Ricardo Alonso-Zaldivar, Associated Press
Dr. Donald Berwick, nominated by President Obama to head the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, is expected to get the job through a recess appointment on Wednesday, July 7, 2010. (AP Photo/Goodman Media International, Inc.)
Washington (AP) - The nation's health system can't be transformed by rationing medical care, President Barack Obama's new Medicare chief said Monday in his first major speech.
Dr. Donald Berwick's appointment earlier this summer without Senate confirmation was contentious because some Republicans accused him of being willing to deny care to save on costs. Since then, the administration has kept Berwick out of the limelight, turning the otherwise well-known medical innovation guru into something of a mystery man in Washington.
Berwick broke his silence Monday, telling an audience of health insurance industry representatives that pushing back against unsustainable costs cannot and should not involve "withholding from us, or our neighbors, any care that helps" or "harming one hair on anyone's head."
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