People in the industry and within the Republican party are up in arms about the off appointment of Berwick to the head of CMS without any sort of Senate confirmation hearing.
The most obvious reason was that Max Baucus (D) did not put it on the agenda. Most quip oberservers may say this was a consirpacy to do a short-term appointment to start the work on Obama-care. I am not sure about this assertion but it is obvious that Mr. Berwick is not your average joe. He is actually rather left and some consider him a socialist when it comes to healthcare.
Here are a list of his comments from the WSJ:
Rationing care. "The decision is not whether or not we will ration care — the decision is whether we will ration with our eyes open."
The British healthcare system. "I am romantic about the National Health Service. … I love it." This government-run system — known for waiting lines, rationing and staid bureaucracy — is "such a seductress" and "a global treasure."
Healthcare regulation. "The primary functions" of health regulation are "to constrain decentralized, individual decision making" and "to weigh public welfare against the choices of private consumers."
Clinical protocols. Clinical protocols for care are based on the "common underlying notion that someone knows or can discover the 'best way' to carry out a task to reach a decision, and that improvement can come from standardizing processes and behaviors to conform to this ideal model."
David E. Williams, from Healthcare Business Blog, called this recess appointment savvy. His reasoning is that this healthcare reform needs to start being implemented now. The reform has been sitting around being held up by politics (maybe because no one really understands what was passed?). He also uses the proverbial, "Bush did it, why can't Obama?" Citing the appointment of Bolton as Ambassador to the UN.
Let's do some fact checking first. Bolton was appointed after some confirmation process. The Democrats were holding up his appointment after Bolton had gone through hearings with the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. He sat through a few days of interviews and hard questioning. Bush only appointed him after the Democrats filibustered for his vote in the Senate. The Republicans wanted to end the debate and go to a vote. The Democrats never allowed it. So after months, Bush appointed him when Congress went on Recess. Bush's intention was always to make him permanent and was going too, and did, put him up again for the confirmation process. While, this CMS appointment had no committee process and no open debate between members. It was all done before the process would of begun and Obama had plenty of time to put Berwick through the process before Recess. Also, Mr. Williams says these comments by Berwick above are sensationalist. I do not think so. They appear across several years at different localities.
I think it is obvious that Obama has overstepped his authority. He has a growing disapproval ratings. He is seen by many as a radical who does not care about the average american but more about ideology. He is a foreign policy wreck. Most of his moderate supporters are fleeing in droves. Obama used be so cool and, frankly, savvy. Now he looks like a bully who cant control himself. This appointment looks more like Sly Obama rather than the open and even-handed one we all saw in the campaign.
If Obamacare is so important to the country, by the admittance of Mr. Williams and President Obama, is not being open and clear about who will be running the show most important? Dont you think appointing someone the lead on spending 1 trillion dollars and cutting 500 billion requires a little more clarity than a news update from the WSJ? Savvy move.... more like arrogant and self-defeating. This gives voters even more reason to expect the Great Reversal on November 2.
http://www.medscape.com/viewarticle/724710
http://www.healthbusinessblog.com/?p=3565&utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed:+HealthBusinessBlog+(Health+business+blog)
http://www.beckersasc.com/healthcare-reform/senate-hearings-on-new-cms-chief-would-have-exposed-restrictive-nature-of-obamacare.html
No comments:
Post a Comment