HHS Seeks Comments on Proposed Regulatory Review Plan - June 21, 2011

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) is seeking comments on its proposed retrospective regulatory review plan until June 30. The plan was released last month in response to President Obama’s Executive Order 13563, which requires agencies to conduct a retrospective review of significant rules. Among other rules in the HHS plan, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) will be required to conduct a review of the hospital conditions of participation to remove obsolete, unnecessary or burdensome provisions. In addition, CMS will conduct a review of Medicare and Medicaid regulations as part of CMS’s recently-announced Alignment Initiative, which is aimed at streamlining the Medicare and Medicaid programs to make care more efficient for dual eligible beneficiaries. Interested parties may review the plan online, provide comments, and see what other stakeholders are saying about the proposal.