Quotes of the Day

Any health care funding plan that is just equitable civilized and humane must, must redistribute wealth from the richer among us to the poorer and the less fortunate. Excellent health care is by definition re-distributional.

Donald Berwick in 2008 while speaking on the British health care system in the UK

There was also this nugget during his speech

Please don’t put your faith in market forces. It is a popular idea that Adam Smith’s invisible hand will do a better job at designing care than leaders with plans can do. I do not agree. I find little evidence anywhere that market forces bluntly used that is just consumer choice among a ray of products with competitors fighting it out, leads to the health care system you want and need.

President Barack Obama bypassed the Senate Wednesday and appointed Dr. Donald Berwick, a Harvard professor and patient care specialist, to run Medicare and Medicaid. The decision to use a so-called recess appointment to install Berwick as administrator of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services drew immediate fire from the GOP .