Obama to Use Recess Appointment for Berwick

The White House yesterday announced that President Obama, to the chagrin of many Congressional Republicans, will use a recess appointment to make Don Berwick the administrator of the federal Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS). Mr. Berwick is touted as an expert in and advocate of quality improvement in health care and is also a renowned Harvard professor and pediatrician. His appointment will remain valid until the end of the 111th Congress in January, at which time he will be subject to another confirmation, and presumably a hearing.

Click here to read more from Politico.
Kaiser Health News has released a resource guide on Mr. Berwick.  Click here to access it.

How to Pass Reform, According to Nancy Pelosi

In an interview last week with the newspaper Politico, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi indicated that the path to passing health reform legislation would take two tracks. First, incremental changes that are mirrored in both bills, such as restricting insurance underwriting practices, establishing a Medicare hospital value-based purchasing program, and providing tax credits to small businesses, will be advanced through Congress as soon as feasible. Other issues of contention will be advanced at a later time, or not at all. These include the establishment of health insurance exchanges, taxes on high cost benefit plans, and new taxes.

Click here to read the HealthLeaders Media story.