A study of the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) reveals that it has missed 20 of 42 deadlines mandated by the health care reform act of 2010, the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA), according to the American Action Forum (AAF), which did the research.
In one case, the department took a total pass, saying it couldn't implement the Community Living Assistance Services and Supports (CLASS) program the way the law was written. The program was to provide long-term assisted health care, such as nursing homes, for the elderly, and was added to PPACA at the insistence of the late Sen. Ted Kennedy (D.-Mass.).
HHS also punted downfield on the plain-language provision for health insurance policies, missing its deadline by many months.
The department, however, has also met many major deadlines, including the implementation of state health insurance exchange guidelines.
HHS takes a different tack on the deadlines. “The administration has met and beaten deadlines required by the Affordable Care Act," an HHS spokesman said in a statement.