It has been reported that Donald Berwick was sworn in on Monday as head of the U. S. agency that administers Medicare and Medicaid amid persistent political squabbling about his appointment.

According to the official reports, President Barack Obama appointed Berwick last week, while the Senate was in recess, to run the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services. The move averted the need for Senate confirmation hearings on the nomination.

The president, in making the appointment, accused Senate Republicans of delaying the appointment for political reasons.

Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., said on the Senate floor Monday the administration avoided the confirmation hearing process out of fear the public would reject Berwick's "well-known views about government-run care about how he plans to implement the president's plan to cut a half-trillion dollars from Medicare while limiting the choices seniors now enjoy."

Modern Healthcare has reported that two Senate Democrats, Dick Durban of Illinois and Sheldon Whitehouse of Rhode Island, defended the appointment.

Berwick is "simply, hands down" the best choice to run CMS and apply provisions of healthcare reform legislation "both vigorously and wisely," Whitehouse has said. (With Inputs from Agencies)