The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), following an executive order to review all regulations to relieve unnecessary burdens on people, businesses and institutions, is now asking for public input on regulations in the Affordable Care Act, with the goal of identifying burdensome ones and fixing or eliminating them.
Here is the exact language from the department’s request for information (RFI) published in the Federal Register:
Among HHS’s goals is to establish a robust and resilient framework for each HHS division to undertake a periodic, thoughtful analysis of its significant existing regulations issued under Title I of the PPACA, to determine whether each rule advances or impedes HHS priorities of stabilizing the individual and small group health insurance markets; empowering patients and promoting consumer choice; enhancing affordability; and returning regulatory authority to the States. We seek public input on changes that could be made, consistent with current law, to existing regulations under HHS’s jurisdiction that would result in a more streamlined, flexible, and less burdensome regulatory structure, including identifying regulations that eliminate jobs or inhibit job creation; are outdated, unnecessary, or ineffective; impose costs that exceed benefits; or create a serious inconsistency or otherwise interfere with regulatory reform initiatives and policies.