The key to genuine healthcare reform is returning the decision making to patients and their doctors. That is why, no matter how the media spins Dr. Daniel Berwick, recess appointment to run Medicare and Medicaid, as a prophet of improved care, we should be very afraid. Berwick is a self-proclaimed admirer of the UK’s NHS which puts life and death decisions in the hands of bureaucrats.
Rep. Mike Pence got to the heart of the matter yesterday at a Capitol Hill press conference on healthcare reform: “At the very core of this debate, it’s about who decides. The very core of this debate is about who makes decisions about resources that are deployed in the most precious area of our lives.”
The Comparative Effectiveness Research (CER) board, Pence said, which was established as part of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009, will determine the type and quality of care you get. It’s modeled after the British system that rations health care.
Are your affairs in order?