CMS In Brief
This article was originally published in The Gray Sheet
Executive Summary
Berwick declines Grassley request: In an Aug. 26 letter to Sen. Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, CMS administrator Donald Berwick says he is unable to provide a requested document from the Institute for Healthcare Improvement, the non-profit Berwick left earlier this year. "Because the information you requested includes non-public documents in the possession of my now former employer, it is not within my power to comply with your entire request," Berwick writes, adding he has provided the publicly available portions of Grassley's request. Grassley released Berwick's letter in a call for more transparency, especially given the administrator's recess appointment (1"The Gray Sheet" July 12, 2010). Grassley wants to know whether device companies, for example, helped fund IHI and whether those companies would get favorable treatment from the Medicare agency