Health Care Reform
Floor Speech
Mr. BARRASSO. Mr. President, I rise today to address comments made on the floor of the U.S. Senate on June 8, 2010. The senior Senator from Montana accused me of slandering an individual. That individual is President Obama's nominee to be the next Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, CMS, Administrator, Dr. Donald Berwick.
The Senator from Montana is incorrect. I want the record to accurately reflect the foundation on which I made my comments on the floor. I told the Senate that the nominee to be the next CMS Administrator ``loves the British health care system and says we are going to need to ration care. The new Director of Medicare is planning to ration care.''
I based my comments solely on historic statements made and articles written by the nominee about the British health care system and rationing care. These statements include:
1. ``The decision is not whether or not we will ration care--the decision is whether we will ration with our eyes open.'' You can find this statement in: ``Rethinking Comparative Effectiveness Research,'' An Interview with Dr. Donald Berwick, Biotechnology Healthcare, June 2009.
2. ``I fell in love with the NHS to an American observer, the NHS ..... is
such a seductress.'' You can find this statement in: ``Celebrating Quality 1998-2008'' by Donald Berwick, M.D., speech at London Science Museum, September 30, 2008.
3. ``The NHS is not just a national treasure; it is a global treasure. As unabashed fans, we urge a dialogue on possible forms of stabilization to better provide the NHS with the time, space, and constancy of purpose to realize its enormous promise.'' You can find this statement in: ``Steadying the NHS'' by Donald Berwick, M.D. and Sheila Leatherman, BMJ, July 29, 2006, p. 255.
4. ``Cynics beware: I am romantic about the National Health Service; I love it. All I need to do to rediscover the romance is to look at health care in my own country.'' You can find this statement in: ``A Transatlantic Review of the NHS at 60'' by Donald Berwick, M.D., BMJ, July 26, 2008, p. 213.
5. ``Here [in Britain], you choose the harder path. You plan the supply; you aim a bit low; you prefer slightly too little of a technology or a service to too much; then you search for care bottlenecks and try to relieve them.'' You can find this statement in: ``A Transatlantic Review of the NHS at 60'' by Donald Berwick, M.D., BMJ, July 26, 2008, p. 213.
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