Pandemic Could Stymie Effort to Cut Health Care Emissions

Greenwire, Dec. 8, 2020).Asked about such an idea this winter, Berwick said, “Certainly, the way Medicare payments work would have the ability to be supportive of those changes.”The Biden administration has not ruled out using its regulatory authority to force the issue. When HHS established the new Office of Climate Change and Health Equity last month, which also has the goal of reducing health care greenhouse gas emissions, Secretary Xavier Becerra told reporters, “We will use every authority to its greatest advantage because it’s time to tackle climate change now” (Climatewire, Sept. 13).“If we think there is a way to do it and if we have the tools and authorities to do it, we will move,” he said.At yesterday’s launch, Berwick said the collaborative would have to spend time convincing health care workers that climate change is akin to a slower-scale cardiac arrest. When someone’s heart stops, doctors and nurses have just three minutes to restore the blood supply before the brain dies.“We don’t have a choice, so we build our system around getting to their bedside in time,” Berwick said. “It is the same thing now. Climate change is slower but it is just as dramatic. … We’ve got three minutes left on this planet and we better do something.”Andrew Witty, CEO of UnitedHealth and a co-chair of the collaborative, agreed that “we have a very limited amount of time to make an impact.”“None of this is easy; there’s not just a box to unwrap with an answer inside, which is why the collaboration is an important step to bring together folks from different perspectives,” he said.Reprinted from E&E News with permission from POLITICO, LLC. Copyright 2021. E&E News provides essential news for energy and environment professionals.