Former CMS head Berwick eyes run for Mass. governor

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Jan 11 2013

The former director of the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services was a lightning rod for debate in Congress after Republicans accused him of supporting health care rationing, but he remains a respected health care expert.

Boston Globe: Health Care Expert May Run For Mass. Governor
A former Obama administration official whose nomination to a powerful health care post was derailed by Senate Republicans said Tuesday that he is strongly considering a run for governor in 2014. If he decides to run, Dr. Donald M. Berwick would follow a path charted by Elizabeth Warren, who began her term as senator this week, two years after her nomination to lead a federal consumer protection agency was shelved amid Republican opposition. Berwick ran the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services and is one of the nation's leading experts on health cost and quality. Obama installed him using a recess appointment in 2010, but Berwick resigned in late 2011 when Republicans made clear they would strongly oppose his confirmation. At the time, the height of the national debate over Obama's health care overhaul, Republicans accused Berwick of wanting to ration services, a charge he called a mischaracterization (Bierman and Levenson, 1/9).

The Hill: Report: Former Obama Health Official Might Run For Mass. Governor
Donald Berwick, formerly a top health care official in the Obama administration, is reportedly considering a run for Massachusetts governor in 2014. Berwick was controversial on Capitol Hill, but he remains a widely respected doctor and health care expert. He served as director of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, before stepping down when his interim appointment expired (Baker, 1/8).

Politico: Berwick Eyeing Run For Massachusetts Governor
Former Obama administration Medicare chief Don Berwick -- vilified by Senate Republicans who made his confirmation impossible -- is considering a run for Massachusetts governor in 2014, he told POLITICO late Tuesday (Kenen, 1/8).

This article was reprinted from kaiserhealthnews.org with permission from the Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation. Kaiser Health News, an editorially independent news service, is a program of the Kaiser Family Foundation, a nonpartisan health care policy research organization unaffiliated with Kaiser Permanente.