WASHINGTON, Nov. 23 (UPI) -- Don Berwick, whose appointment as head of the United States' Medicare program was being blocked by Republicans, resigned Wednesday.
Berwick, a Harvard professor President Obama wanted to lead the overhaul of the Medicare and Medicaid programs, was in the job on a temporary basis. Obama used his power to appoint administrators while Congress is in recess to insert Berwick in the job, but at least 42 Republican senators said they would block his confirmation, meaning he would have had to leave at the end of the year, The Boston Globe reported.
Obama said in a statement issued by the White House he was nominating Marilyn Tavenner, a former Virginia health and human resources secretary who had been Berwick's top deputy, to replace him.
