CMS Administrator Regrets Latest Healthcare Ruling

The man President Obama recently re-nominated to head up the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services said Tuesday that he disagrees with yesterday’s ruling by a Florida federal judge, who wrote that Obama’s healthcare law is unconstitutional.

Administrator Donald Berwick told reporters following a speech at the Brookings Institution that, “it would be a real mistake to have this law go down.”

After making remarks on new accountable care organizations which the law established, Berwick told reporters that he hasn’t studied Judge Roger Vinson’s ruling, but noted that two other judges have ruled in favor of the Obama administration while twelve others have declined to take up the case.

Berwick, who rarely speaks to the press, was a recess appointment last year. Last week, Obama re-nominated him to serve beyond the end of this year, but it is uncertain whether the Senate - with 47 Republicans - will be able to confirm him.