Sometime tonight or early tommorow, the 2012 Presidential election will be decided, and according to a recent article from POLITICO, we are likely to see a “post-election flood of ‘Obamacare’ rules regardless of the outcome. This may include the long awaited final regulations for the Physician Payment Sunshine Act, which many speculate have been finished but merely waiting for the election to be decided.
The article noted that the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) remained busy writing regulations to implement the Affordable Care Act, but slowed down the roll out in the past few months because of the election. This is typical of any incumbent to ensure no controversial rules or regulations are proposed, finalized or implemented.
POLITICO reported that HHS is expected to issue its final regulations about the health insurance exchanges, which states face a November 16 deadline to tell the Obama administration whether they will implement such exchanges.
“One of the most important regulations not yet issued is the potentially controversial one to specify what health insurance policies must cover. And final rules have not been issued on other significant pieces of the law, such as those governing the health insurance exchanges, the individual mandate and how to define “full-time” and “part-time” employees in regard to employer penalties.”
“If Obama wins, that work is likely to continue through the early years of his second term. Democrats will want the law put in place as quickly as possible. They face a late 2013 deadline to have the exchanges ready to go.”
If Romney wins, Democrats may try to push through the regulations even faster because “Any rules or regulations that are not final by Nov. 22 — 60 days before Romney would be sworn in — can be easily put on hold on Jan. 20.” This makes the case for issuing the final regulations for the Sunshine Act even more likely to come shortly after the election. After Inauguration Day, Romney has promised that implementation of the law would come to a crashing halt.
HHS Secretary Kathleen Sebelius has held fewer news conferences on the law than she did in the first two years after the law passed. That’s all the more reason that David Merritt, managing director at Leavitt Partners, is expecting a “torrent of regulations” after Election Day.
We will provide post election coverage on Wednesday and will be closely monitoring the Federal Register to provide a complete and detailed analysis of the finalized Sunshine Regulations when CMS issues them.