In a paradoxical about-face, the British government announced it will decentralize its overwhelmed National Health Service, at the same time President Obama attempts to imitate the failing centralized system.
Obama recently recess-appointed Donald Berwick –an avid supporter of the British health system, calling it “one of the truly astounding human endeavors of modern history” – to head the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services.
The Republican Joint Economic Committee –led by U.S. Sen. Sam Brownback of Kansas and Rep. Kevin Brady of Texas – released today a complex chart, displaying the vast array of new government agencies, regulations and mandates created by Obama’s health care law.
“The timing is ironic, of course,” says Carrie Gordon Earll, senior bioethics analyst for CitizenLink, “that at the same time the Obama Administration elevates a supporter of the British program; the British themselves are changing course.”
Britain’s system has been unable to keep up with cost and demand of the bureaucratic giant. Proposed changes include plans to dole back money and authority to local practitioners, remove layers of bureaucracy and give patients more choices.
“President Obama and members of Congress would do well to take note of what’s happening across the Pond, and learn from the UK’s experience,” said Earll, “that more government in health care is not the answer.”
FOR MORE INFORMATION
Look at the new health care bureaucracy created by Obamacare.
Read health care chart press release.
Read the UK’s Department of Health’s restructuring plan, “Equity and Excellence: Liberating the NHS.”
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