WASHINGTON — Late Tuesday, the White House announced that President Obama will use a recess appointment to put Dr. Donald Berwick in the administrator's seat at the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services.
Obama nominated the Harvard professor and pediatrician for the post in April, but in recent weeks, increasingly sharp attacks on Berwick's views over Medicare cost control had threatened to turn his confirmation hearing into a replay of the health reform debate. The recess appointment, good until the end of the 111th Congress, will sidestep that battle, the Wall Street Journal reported.
According to a blog posted by White House Communications Director Dan Pfeiffer, "Many Republicans in Congress have made it clear in recent weeks that they were going to stall the nomination as long as they could, solely to score political points. But with the agency facing new responsibilities to protect seniors' care under the Affordable Care Act, there's no time to waste with Washington game-playing."
Pfeiffer said that's why the president will install Berwick "at the agency's helm and provide strong leadership for the Medicare program without delay."
CMS has been without a permanent administrator for four years since Mark McClellan, who served in the agency's top post from 2004-2006, stepped down. McClellan supports Berwick for the job, as do the AARP and the American Medical Association.
While there is scant information about his views on specific HME issues, some industry associations believe Berwick could be good for home care.
Following Berwick's nomination, the American Association for Homecare's Michael Reinemer, vice president of communications and policy, pointed out that Berwick has at least seen home care up close.
"Berwick personally witnessed problems related to the delay of appropriate durable medical equipment and care when his own father (also a physician) was recovering from a fall more than a dozen years ago," Reinemer noted. "He knows about the role of home care in more than an academic sense."
Reinemer characterized Berwick as an ardent advocate for quality patient care who appreciates the inherent dangers of allowing Medicare patients to slip through cracks in the system.
Wayne Stanfield called Berwick a true "policy person" who earned a Masters in Public Policy (MPP) from Harvard's John F. Kennedy School of Government, in addition to a medical degree.
"I believe he will be good for home care and DME, and that he is committed to care that is safe, effective, patient-centered, timely, efficient, and equitable," said Stanfield, president and CEO of the National Association of Independent Medical Equipment Suppliers. "He is committed to prevention, which will favor the home care model."
"There's no question that Don Berwick is the right choice to be our next CMS administrator," Pfeiffer wrote. "He's the founder of the Institute for Healthcare Improvement and has spent decades as a practicing physician and a Harvard professor. He's dedicated his career to finding ways to make our health care system work better for patients and cost less for taxpayers."
But some legislators see it differently.
As reported in Politico, Sen. Pat Roberts, R-Kan., said, "Once again, the Obama administration is going behind closed doors out of fear the American people will learn that Dr. Berwick plans to use rationing as a cost cutting tool to achieve the billions of dollars in cuts to Medicare called for in the health care reform bill."
For more on Berwick's background, see Obama to Nominate Berwick as CMS Chief, March 29.