Berwick is out

Looks like Don Berwick’s tenure at CMS will be a short one, since the votes to confirm him are not there. We commented here on his initial recess appointment. I can’t comment much more without making this a political blog, which has never been our intent. I will only say that it is a sad commentary on the state of our divided government, and yet another setback for efforts to improve the U.S. healthcare system. As for a replacement: who in their right mind would want to step into this arena now, to have their record judged by people whose primary goal is the failure of healthcare reform?