Obama administration review may delay pending regulations

One of the first actions of the new Obama administration was to issue an order to undertake a legal and policy review of all regulations issued by the executive that have not yet gone into effect. The review may push back the effective dates of several regulation issued by CMS and HHS, or lead to their repeal. The Bush administration issued a similar directive when it first took office, suspending the effective dates for several final rules issued in the last days of the Clinton administration.

A memorandum signed by White House chief of staff Rahm Emanuel notes that "no proposed or final regulation should be sent to the Office of the Federal Register (OFR) for publication unless and until it has been reviewed and approved by a department or agency head appointedor designated by the President." Any regulations that have been submitted to the OFR but not yet published will be withdrawn and reviewed by department or agency officials.

The order also would possibly extend for 60 days the effective date of regulations thathave already been published in the Federal Register but have not yet taken effect. The delay would give administration officials time to review questions of law and policy raised by theregulations. If an extension is made, a new 30-day notice and comment period will be allowed.

There are eight Final rules issues by either CMS or HHS that are affected by thuis review. The rules affect the adoption of the ICD-10 by HHS; updated versions of the standards for electronic transactions related to Part D; the delay in implementation of thecompetitive bidding program for durable medical equipment; the retiree drug subsidy under Part D; and the coverage of medical assistance by state Medicaid plans.