The following article is an egregious example of just how broken the United States Senate is. Don Berwick
may be the most uniformly admired figure in the areas of health policy and quality improvement in the
world by people who know what they're talking about - a group that evidently does not include a majority
of Senate Republicans. He has been knighted for his work in Great Britain.
In the short time he has been running Medicare, Don has proven his understanding of the issues, and his
suitability for the job.
And yet, at a time of historic change in the Medicare program, Senate Republicans are evidently refusing
to confirm him. Once again, politics trumps good policy. They should be ashamed of themselves - but
don't hold your breath.
March 7, 2011
Rising Calls to Replace Top Man at Medicare
By ROBERT PEAR
WASHINGTON — Members of Congress, including Democrats, have urged the Obama administration to search for another Medicare chief after concluding that the Senate is unlikely to confirm President Obama’s temporary appointee, Dr. Donald M. Berwick.
Dr. Berwick’s principal deputy, Marilyn B. Tavenner, has emerged as a candidate to succeed him. Lawmakers of both parties said Monday that Ms. Tavenner, a former Virginia secretary of health and human resources with extensive management experience, could probably be confirmed.
Unions offer concessions on health care
But hold firm on public-employee bargaining
The Changing Face of Medical Care
By DOREEN CARVAJAL
LONDON — The plastic surgery unit at Chelsea and Westminster Hospital welcomes patients in a spare waiting room with padded blue chairs and a bright yellow lane of stripes running along the floor like a street intersection.
It is the crossroads for Dr. Shweta Aggarwal, a plastic surgeon in training, who summons her patients for consultations ranging from burns and breast reconstruction to tummy tucks and implants.
Across the Western world, it is her generation of young women that is transforming the once-male bastion of medicine, swelling medical schools and flocking to the front lines of primary care.
Medical bankruptcies a continuing problem, study finds
The 2006 Massachusetts law that required nearly everyone to buy health insurance has not significantly staunched residents' pain from medical bankruptcies, according to a new study.
http://www.boston.com/news/health/blog/2011/03/medical_bankrup.html#
http://www.boston.com/news/health/blog/2011/03/medical_bankrup.html#
No comments:
Post a Comment