Implementing the Health Law: More Than Just Seeking Headlines…
Wanted to point out an article in Politico this morning that may have missed your attention (as it did mine). It points out that HHS’ implementation of the health care law is already behind schedule, as a breast cancer task force and an Alaska health task force were not appointed by the deadlines established in the Act. It quotes an official at the CDC – charged with oversight of the breast cancer task force – as “uncertain as to whether the agency had even begun work on its task. ‘My understanding, with everything regarding that bill, is that it is still with HHS…Right now, we have not made any steps to implement’ the act.”
Republicans criticized the many new boards, bureaucracies, and programs created in the legislation as a costly and ineffective symptom of Democrats’ government takeover of health care – and the delays already seen to date tend to confirm that view. With the Administration apparently focused on sending out mailings to “educate” individuals about the law, implementing the law itself would appear to have fallen short – and fallen flat.