Berwick has championed the British health care system for years proclaiming his outright support of rationing. In 2009, Berwick said, “The decision is not whether or not we will ration care — the decision is whether we will ration with our eyes open.” In a 2008 speech, Berwick proclaimed, “I am romantic about the NHS; I love it. All I need to do to rediscover the romance is to look at health care in my own country.” Of course, the British system openly rations care for the sick and the elderly.

But Berwick ran from those statements like a scalded dog before House members who asked pointed questions about his support for rationing care. When Rep. Tom Price (R-Ga.) asked him whether he supports healthcare rationing, Berwick said, “I abhor rationing.” At another point he said that he spent his whole life fighting rationing, The Hill reports.

Chairman Dave Camp (R-Mich.) asked him whether he was still “in love” with the British healthcare system, Berwick’s response: “There are strengths and weaknesses in every healthcare system in the world. The American healthcare system needs an American solution.”

For fear of stating the obvious, it is clear Berwick was not honest in his testimony.

He cut; ran; ducked; weaved; and twisted his long history of support for a government-run health care system. Worse yet, while the Administration may deny support for rationing, their policies are opening the door to it. Just ask late stage breast cancer patients who have been threatened with the termination of insurance coverage of life-extending drug called Avastin because of cost considerations.

The Food and Drug Administration has proposed to “de-label” the drug, a move that would remove insurance and Medicare coverage for patients. The wealthy would still have access to the drug but everyone else would be forced to mortgage their house to be able to continue to use the drug to save their lives. During consideration of the action, a FDA appointee mentioned the cost of the drug basis for their decision.

Even Berwick’s own department is apparently getting into the act. The office has declared a review of the colon drug Provenge because of its cost.

Republicans should not be buying the snake oil Berwick is selling. The Senate Finance Committee should reject his nomination and should begin to end the initial efforts by our government to ration care for the sick and the elderly.

To put it in perspective two Obama Administration officials control a budget at CMS larger than the entire budget of the Department of Defense.

Play the videos or read the excerpts of CMS Director Berwick’s evasive responses followed by excerpts from Chief Actuary Foster’s testimony.

Dr. Berwick

What is your opinion on a rationing system and universal health care?

Ways and Means Chairman Dave Camp: “Well, regarding the British National health service, you made a statement, and that is a service that is notorious for rationing care, you said and I quote ‘I fell in love with the NHS…to an American observer, the NHS is such a seductress.’ Are you still in love with the NHS?”

Dr. Berwick: “There are strengths and weaknesses for every health care system around the world.”

Chairman Camp: “Well you also wrote and I am quoting here, ‘I admit to my own devotion to a single-payer mechanism as the only sensible approach to health care finance I can think of.’ Do you still feel a government run single payer health care system is the only sensible approach?”

Dr. Berwick: “I am really excited by the promise the Affordable Health Care Act offers, Mr. Chairman, to American health care.”

Is there anything you would change to the Democrats’ Health Law?

Rep. Dave Reichert (WA): “Is there anything that stands out in your mind that you would change? What don’t you like about the bill, or is it all good?”

Dr. Berwick: “It is a very complicated bill sir.”

Can you keep the health care plan you have and like?

Rep. Tom Price (GA): “Is it true, if you like what you have you can keep it?”

Dr. Berwick: “I don’t understand your question…”

Rep. Price: “Because of this bill, there are Americans that have lost the coverage they want and in fact can’t have the coverage that they like.”

Dr. Berwick: “Dr. Price my answer is there is turnover always in what is available to beneficiaries.”

Rick Foster

Does health spending increase because of the Democrats’ new health law?

Chairman Camp: “In your expert analysis, would you say that their law increases or decreases national health expenditures?”

Mr. Foster: “We have estimated that overall, the national health expenditures would increase under the health reform act.”

Will the new health care law jeopardize seniors’ access to care?

Rep. Wally  Herger (CA): “In an auxiliary report to the Medicare Trustees’ 2010 Report, CMS actuaries predicted that under the new health care law, by 2019, Medicare payment rates will be lower than current Medicaid rates.  In your recent testimony before the House Budget Committee, you confirmed that the best case scenario under current law is that Medicare rates will be equal to Medicaid rates in 10 years. What impact would these rates have on beneficiaries’ access to care?”

Mr. Foster: “If Medicare payment rates become lower than the current level for Medicaid, which would in fact happen over time under the Affordable Care Act, then it raises questions about the ability of beneficiaries to have access to care.”

The government paid more than $47 billion in questionable Medicare claims including medical treatment showing little relation to a patient’s condition, wasting taxpayer dollars at a rate nearly three times the previous year.

Excerpts of a new federal report, obtained by The Associated Press, show a dramatic increase in improper payments in the $440 billion Medicare program that has been cited by government auditors as a high risk for fraud and waste for 20 years.

It’s not clear whether Medicare fraud is actually worsening. Much of the increase in the last year is attributed to a change in the Health and Human Services Department’s methodology that imposes stricter documentation requirements and includes more improper payments — part of a data-collection effort being ordered government-wide by President Barack Obama this coming week to promote “honest budgeting” and accurate statistics.

Still, the fiscal 2009 financial report — covering the first few months of the Obama administration — highlights the challenges ahead for a government that is seeking in part to pay for its proposed health care overhaul by cracking down on Medicare fraud. While noting that several new anti-fraud efforts were beginning, the government report makes clear that “aggressive actions” to date aimed at reducing improper payments had yielded little improvement.

In recent years, the suspect claims have included Medicare prescriptions from doctors who were dead, and requests for payment for medical supplies such as blood glucose strips for sexual impotence and diabetic shoes for leg amputees. Patients, many of them new citizens who barely speak English, are sometimes recruited by brokers who go door-to-door offering hundreds of dollars for use of their Medicare numbers.

Obama is expected to announce new initiatives this coming week to help crack down on Medicare fraud, including a government-wide Web site aimed at providing a fuller account of health care spending and improper payments made by various agencies. The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services also will launch a Web interactive next month that will allow users to track Medicare payment information by categories such as state, diagnosis and hospital.

Read the whole article here.

According to the article, the government’s goal is to get Medicare fraud down to 9.5% of the program’s total costs. Well. No doubt things will be better when government takes over all of health care.