By Dave Andrusko

Donald Berwick

Well, it ought to barnburner tomorrow, when Center for Medicare and Medicare Services (CMS) head Donald Berwick makes his first Capitol Hill appearance, testifying before the Senate Finance Committee. As you'll remember, derided by critics as "rationer in chief" and a "one-man death squad," Berwick avoided walking the gauntlet when President Obama made him a recess appointment.

No longer. Tomorrow critics will have the opportunity to ask him about his many controversial statements such as his open advocacy of government-imposed rationing of medical treatment. He is an enthusiastic supporter of Britain's National Health Service and its National Institute for Clinical Excellence (NICE), the agency charged with determining which medical advances will – and which will not – be made available to the British public.

(Berwick is such an enthusiastic supporter that in 2005 Queen Elizabeth II appointed him an honorary Knight Commander of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire.)

But as the Hill newspaper reported Berwick has already made public his prepared remarks in which he will deny everything.

He will say "The Affordable Care Act [ObamaCare] does not prescribe a 'one size fits all' approach to health care because health care is first and foremost about caring for unique individuals" and that "the Democrats' healthcare law does not ration care nor cut guaranteed Medicare benefits," the Hill reported.

According to POLITICO's Sarah Kliff, there will be versions of five basic questions (see http://www.politico.com/news/stories/1110/45158.html#ixzz15SFXq1tl). For example, "Independent actuaries such as CMS's Richard Foster have found that health care reform will cut benefits and cost taxpayers. How can you and the Obama administration continue to insist that this law saves money?"

Kliff goes on, "Senate Republicans definitely expect to find strong support in the work of Foster, who has repeatedly questioned Obama administration claims about health reform reducing costs while preserving Medicare and Medicaid benefits. Most recently, Foster estimated in an October report that some seniors would have 'less generous benefit packages' under the new law."

Also according to the story, "Republicans will use Foster's analyses to challenge key administration claims about the benefits of health reform -- and hold Berwick accountable for them. How will $500 million in Medicare Advantage cuts affect seniors? President Obama promised that 'if you like your plan, you can keep it.' So why are seniors being forced to switch Medicare Advantage plans?"

To read NRLC's full criticism of the Berwick recess appointment, go to http://www.nrlc.org/NewsToday/BerwickAppointment.html.

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