President Obama is looking at making the recommendations made by the Medicare Payment Advisory Commission (MedPAC) each year easier to put into effect. In a letter to Sens. Edward Kennedy (D.-Mass.) and Max Baucus (D.-Mont.) sent June 2, Obama outlined several proposals to cut health care spending over the next 10 years, particularly in the Medicare program. 

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.