Really the best man? On July 1st, 2008 in Londaon at the National Health Service conference, Dr. Berwick said this: "Sick people tend to be poorer and that poor people tend to be sicker and that 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 redistributional. Britain, you chose well."

The UK's Healthcare system is a mess and he's celebrating 60-years of failure!

Berwick's comments have been taken out of context for several months. This is another example. The fact that all countries have finite resources is true. The fact that in the U.S. we spend 17% of GDP on healthcare which is rising at an exponential rate is true. The fact that some redistribution of wealth may be necessary to allow for healthcare coverage is going to be true(higher taxes I mean) but the thing that Berwick definitely knows and has years of experience with is improvement. He knows the way out of the mess in this country, the U.K., or anywhere else for that matter, is to create an improvement system that improves quality while at the same time lowering cost. Not many of us have achieved the quality and cost outcomes yet but the few that are beginning to like Group Health of Puget Sound, Thedacare, and others are clearly on Berwick's radar and it's my guess he will be leading CMS in the direction of rewarding and encouraging radical improvement. That's why he is the best man for the job.