No, he doesn’t say that at all. This is exactly what he says:
“we can make sure some of the waste that exists in the system, that is not making anybody’s mom better, that is loading up on additional tests, or additional drugs that the evidence shows that is not necessarily going to improve care, that at least we can let doctors know, and your mom know that, you know what, maybe this isn’t going to help, maybe you’re better off not having the surgery, but taking the pain killer.”
Nothing about not having a pacemaker installed. Nothing about not having medically indicated surgery. Just not wasting money with tests and drugs that don’t improve care. What exactly is the problem with this statement?
Now I think medical professionals should make help patients make medical decisions, not insurance companies (who do it daily now with their treatment by spreadsheet) or the government. But I have heard no proposals regarding changes to medicare protocols regarding restricting reimbursed care. So all this is creating something where there is nothing.
