Dr. Donald Berwick is not a household name. But his actions will have a huge effect on medical care in the United States.
That’s because President Barack Obama appointed Berwick to oversee the massive Medicare and Medicaid programs.
The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services – the agency that Berwick will lead – is responsible for more than $800 billion in medical spending each year. The new ObamaCare socialized medicine law will use Medicaid to bring millions more people onto government health care.
So what do we know about Berwick, who some say is a “mystery man”? Well, we don’t know as much as we should. You see, he did not go through the normal Senate confirmation process when the president nominated him. The president simply waited until the Senate was out of town and then named Berwick to the incredibly powerful job so that the doctor could not be questioned in Senate hearings.
That is not surprising, given Berwick’s extreme views. Although he recently claimed he does not believe in rationing health care, his past statements make it clear that he favors both government rationing of care and socialized medicine in general.