In March, The Regulatory Review published an excellent series of opinion essays analyzing the five recommendations that the Administrative Conference of the United States adopted at its last Plenary session, held in December 2017. I highlighted the new recommendations (and a rare separate statement) when they were published, but The Regulatory Review series delves much deeper. In […]
This piece is co-authored by Rachel Sachs, associate professor of law at Washington University Law School. It’s cross-posted at the Health Affairs Blog. Although drug formularies are ubiquitous in Medicare and the private insurance market, they’re absent in Medicaid. By law, state Medicaid programs that offer prescription drug coverage (as they all do) must cover all drugs approved […]
Last month I participated in a fascinating symposium hosted by the Center for Compliance Studies at Loyola University Chicago School of Law. The topic was “What is the Role of a Regulation if it is Not Enforced?” As background, in 2017 I studied waivers and exemptions for the Administrative Conference of the United States. That […]
It’s no secret that agencies communicate with the public. Nor is it a secret that the public often listens. It is worth thinking about, however, why the public listens. Sometimes, of course, it is a not a mystery why what an agency says is important. Imagine, for instance, that an agency has authority to waive […]
That’s the title of a new piece of mine that came out in JAMA this morning. It’s pretty timely: a lawsuit was filed last week challenging CMS’s approval of Kentucky’s waiver, which includes work requirements. More waivers, and more litigation, are sure to come. I’m no fan of work requirements. They’re harsh, stigmatizing, and ineffective. And they will hurt people, […]
Start 2018 off right by reading the five new recommendations adopted by the Administrative Conference at its 68th Plenary session! Although this was my first plenary session as an ACUS Public Member, it was my eleventh (!!) plenary session overall. (I attended the other ten when I was on the ACUS staff.) It was a genuine […]
(Apologies; this post was written quickly — and at 30,000 feet.) This has been a busy week. What to write about? The White House released the Unified Agenda. Unfortunately, I haven’t had a chance to review it yet. The Administrative Conference of the United States finished its plenary session.* Emily Bremer, however, will have that […]
Many federal agencies have the authority to bring civil complaints against individuals accused of violating applicable statues or regulations. Those agencies also have the authority to enter into settlement agreements with the accused defendants. The Commodity Futures Trading Commission (“CFTC”) and Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) both have a policy of requiring a provision in […]
I haven’t counted but I suspect — with the possible exception of symposium weeks — that this week has been the busiest in the history of Notice & Comment. We have had posts aplenty about the CFPB. There was a mini-debate about whether Chenery II poses a threat to liberty (Richard Pierce says “never,” I […]
The Administrative Conference will host its 68th Plenary Session on December 14th and 15th, 2017. It’s shaping up to be a busy one, with five proposed recommendations going before the Assembly for approval. From the Federal Register notice, these recommendations address the following subjects: Plain Language in Regulatory Drafting. This proposed recommendation identifies tools and techniques agencies have used […]
Note: This was a quiet week in the D.C. Circuit — just one nine-page opinion,* and it is about FOIA. This week’s post, accordingly, will be short. This year I’ve spent a lot of time thinking about agency waivers. Why? Well, because I was commissioned to prepare a report on them for the Administrative Conference […]
In broad strokes, the bipartisan deal from Senators Alexander and Murray would restore cost-sharing payments through 2019 in exchange for some amendments to the rules governing ACA waivers. Now that we have the bill text, we can start to wrap our hands around the practical effects of those waiver changes. Most importantly, the bill would […]
The Congressional Budget Office (CBO) has played a prominent role in the recent debate regarding Obamacare repeal and replace proposals. Many Republicans likely hoped that they could have voted on the proposals without first having CBO’s estimates bolster opposition to the proposals. After this failure to repeal and replace Obamacare, Senate Republicans plan to include in […]
The following is an op-ed that I was shopping around for publication prior to the demise of Graham-Cassidy. It’s obviously less urgent now, but I wanted to put it out there as a time-capsule in case the bill is revived. The op-ed relates to the penultimate version of the bill, not the one that finally […]
The revised bill was leaked last night and will apparently be unveiled today. The reporting has suggested that it’s worse than before. Not only is Graham-Cassidy now full of bribes and giveaways to lure hesitant senators, but it also makes it much easier for states to avoid the application of the ACA’s insurance regulations. That’s […]