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More about Dr. Donald Berwick and his conflicts of interest as Medicare Chief
This post is meant to supplement the very fine video now featured on the home page of Freedom Pub about Dr. Donald Berwick.
My recently posted video likewise defines Dr. Donald Berwick for who he is and what he stands and what his recess appointement will mean as Chief of Medicare.
This story is told by Dr. Arie Friedman during an hour-long, live appearance on Cooper's Corner in early June, even before Dr. Berwick's recess appointment.
Even so. Dr. Friedman is right on in what he has to say about Dr. Berwick. On the video Dr. Friedman also expresses his concerns and fears about what Obamacare will bring to this nation's healthcare system
Medicare chief's ties questioned
Nonprofit's donors not filed
By Jim McElhatton
The Washington Times
As administrator for the $800-billion-a-year Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, Dr. Donald Berwick is charged with implementing many of President Obama's sweeping health care mandates in ways that undoubtedly will affect health plans, hospitals and health care providers across the country.
But a review of some of the funding sources of the nonprofit think tank he co-founded and until recently headed show health care entities that don't appear on Dr. Berwick's financial disclosure or on the standard ethics agreement that officials use to root out potential conflicts of interest.
The BlueCross BlueShield Association of America, Cardinal Health Foundation, Aetna Foundation, the RX Foundation and Baxter International are among the nonprofit Institute for Healthcare Improvement's publicly disclosed donors, and it's unclear whether they figured into the government's standard ethics review.
Those entities have provided anywhere from $50,000 to as much as $5 million each to the institute's "5 Million Lives Campaign," which aims to improve hospital safety.
White House officials say Dr. Berwick is in full compliance with all ethics rules, and his financial disclosure form instructs nominees to list only former clients of a business or nonprofit in which the nominee was directly involved in providing a service for a fee for more than $5,000.
Dr. Berwick, 63, would have faced standard questioning about the finances of the Massachusetts-based nonprofit group if he had gone through the normal confirmation process, but his recess appointment last month means he can serve until the end of the next session of Congress without a Senate vote or a hearing.
Still, Sen. Charles E. Grassley, Iowa Republican and ranking member of the Senate Finance Committee, wants to know who funds the nonprofit institute and whether any of those organizations were taken into consideration when ethics officials vetted Dr. Berwick for potential conflicts of interest.
"One of the many significant issues related to your nomination that remains unresolved is the potential for conflicts arising from donors to the Institute for Healthcare Improvement, the organization you founded and led as Chief Executive Officer," Mr. Grassley wrote in a recent letter to Dr. Berwick.
"The public has the right to know whether the numerous and significant policy decisions that you make are vulnerable to these potential conflicts of financial interest."
A spokesman for the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, where Dr. Berwick is commissioner, declined to comment and referred questions to the White House.
Story Continues →
‹‹ previous123next ››
My recently posted video likewise defines Dr. Donald Berwick for who he is and what he stands and what his recess appointement will mean as Chief of Medicare.
This story is told by Dr. Arie Friedman during an hour-long, live appearance on Cooper's Corner in early June, even before Dr. Berwick's recess appointment.
Even so. Dr. Friedman is right on in what he has to say about Dr. Berwick. On the video Dr. Friedman also expresses his concerns and fears about what Obamacare will bring to this nation's healthcare system
Medicare chief's ties questioned
Nonprofit's donors not filed
By Jim McElhatton
The Washington Times
As administrator for the $800-billion-a-year Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, Dr. Donald Berwick is charged with implementing many of President Obama's sweeping health care mandates in ways that undoubtedly will affect health plans, hospitals and health care providers across the country.
But a review of some of the funding sources of the nonprofit think tank he co-founded and until recently headed show health care entities that don't appear on Dr. Berwick's financial disclosure or on the standard ethics agreement that officials use to root out potential conflicts of interest.
The BlueCross BlueShield Association of America, Cardinal Health Foundation, Aetna Foundation, the RX Foundation and Baxter International are among the nonprofit Institute for Healthcare Improvement's publicly disclosed donors, and it's unclear whether they figured into the government's standard ethics review.
Those entities have provided anywhere from $50,000 to as much as $5 million each to the institute's "5 Million Lives Campaign," which aims to improve hospital safety.
White House officials say Dr. Berwick is in full compliance with all ethics rules, and his financial disclosure form instructs nominees to list only former clients of a business or nonprofit in which the nominee was directly involved in providing a service for a fee for more than $5,000.
Dr. Berwick, 63, would have faced standard questioning about the finances of the Massachusetts-based nonprofit group if he had gone through the normal confirmation process, but his recess appointment last month means he can serve until the end of the next session of Congress without a Senate vote or a hearing.
Still, Sen. Charles E. Grassley, Iowa Republican and ranking member of the Senate Finance Committee, wants to know who funds the nonprofit institute and whether any of those organizations were taken into consideration when ethics officials vetted Dr. Berwick for potential conflicts of interest.
"One of the many significant issues related to your nomination that remains unresolved is the potential for conflicts arising from donors to the Institute for Healthcare Improvement, the organization you founded and led as Chief Executive Officer," Mr. Grassley wrote in a recent letter to Dr. Berwick.
"The public has the right to know whether the numerous and significant policy decisions that you make are vulnerable to these potential conflicts of financial interest."
A spokesman for the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, where Dr. Berwick is commissioner, declined to comment and referred questions to the White House.
Story Continues →
‹‹ previous123next ››
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