Will Donald Berwick Ration Healthcare? Conservatives Pounce on Obama Appointee

Donald Berwick (AP)

WASHINGTON (CBS/AP) Dr. Donald Berwick is President Obama's new man in charge of dispensing government health care and conservatives fear he is about to become "Rationer in Chief."

"The decision is not whether or not we will ration care, he told an interviewer according to the Associated Press. "The decision is whether we will ration with our eyes open. And right now, we are doing it blindly."

Liberals have argued that health care is already rationed by insurance companies and the economics of who can afford to pay for premium care.

The Harvard professor and patient care specialist will certainly have his work cut out for him in trying to tame the expanding budgets of Medicare and Medicaid while expanding coverage to millions of Americans under Obama's new health care legislation.

Obama used a recess appointment to install the 63-year-old pediatrician as administrator of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services without a Senate vote.

The American Hospital Association and AARP are backing him. Republicans, by and large, are not.

During the push to approve his health care legislation, President Obama promised the changes would expand coverage while bringing down costs.

In large part, its Berwick's job to make sure that happens.

For more analysis, read Political Hotsheet

[G_Turner]

Care4all,

Whats your bag, man? "This Country" isn't spending any of its "health care dollars" on me (or the VAST MAJORITY of its citizens). I like my healthcare just FINE, thanks. Its taken care of my BACK, my wifes BRAIN TUMOR, my Father-in-laws HEART VALVE repair, my mother-in-laws KNEE REPLACEMENT, etc, etc, etc.

Yes, its expensive. Yes, some people dont have this kind of coverage. Too bad, maybe while they're all out holding pre-printed signs and chanting "yes we can" they're passing-up the opportunity to get a JOB with BENEFITS!

[kem45]

YES President Obama promised the changes would expand coverage while bringing down costs.
BUT there is one thing that Obama did not promise that is how high will your premiums be between now and 2014. the insurance comp- have until 2014 the keep raising them. and there already starting as of 2 months ago my sons work insurance raised an extra $70 month I don't even want to think about how much he will have to pay come 2014. Obama is doing some good things but getting this guy to run it and some of the heath care bill is not good. he needs to put a cap on the insurance comp- NOW. and not make it mandatory for the public to have it if they don't want it, I still don't understand the reason for that one.

[robcafaro]

Who is Donald Berwick? Google him and the picture bloggers, Fox News, and other media outlets paint is of a ?dangerous? man who will ration health care or redistribute wealth or ruin medicaid/medicare. One source of vitriol is the fact that President Obama slyly maneuvered around debate over Berwick by appointing him while Congress was on recess. To get this out of the way, Article II, Section 2 of the Constitution gives leeway to the Executive Branch to appoint while Congress is on recess.... My response to this:

http://www.thesocialperiodical.com/policy/the-berwick-distortion/

[tsigili]

Well, it is going to be rationed.....so if he has been named as the man in charge, then that description will certainly fit.

[luadda22]

Why do we keep getting the idiots from Harvard?? Isn't there another school that can supply us with educated officals that don't have their ideals wrapped around socialism??

[care4allcitizens]

We need to ration care in the sense that we need to stop paying for the unnecessary extras that only enrich those trying to profit off of the health care system and do nothing to improve health and quality of care. For instance, I do not want to pay for all those drugs that are advertized on television to convince people they need something that they don't. If you have osteoporosis, do light weight lifting instead of taking drugs that have not been proven to have any long term benefit and may actually harm your health. That's how my mother reversed her osteoporosis. How about a healthy lifestyle and eating less fattening foods to lower cholesterol and blood pressure. Medications have their place, but should only be used when other methods fail. We also need to stop performing unnecessary procedures that are not only unnecessary, but risky for the patient. In this country, we are either over-treated or under-treated. It all depends on how deep your pockets are or what your insurance is willing to pay for. We need a standard of care that will insure we get the treatments we need, but not what we don't need. I hope Dr. Berwick will work to acheive this goal. Anyone who thinks we don't need rationing isn't realistic. I for one, don't want treatments I don't need just to make a profit for someone else. People need to look at it that way.

[G_Turner]

Stop telling people how to look at it. You're clearly no smarter than the rest of us.

As of this moment, the only people paying for MY care is ME and my EMPLOYER (as a benefit associated with my high-stress job). WE get to decide what I do and do NOT "need". YOU should but the hell out of it...

Just because your Mommy responded to weight training doesn't mean EVERYONE will.

Profit is GOOD. Its why all the super-SMART guys and gals are doing the BRAIN surgery, while the BONEHEADS are washing their CARS.

God help us when we get to the day when a person like YOU has any say over what the rest of us GET.