Regulating Healthcare Cost
Regulating Healthcare Cost
Applying Kerwin and Furlong’s healthcare cost
The concept presented by Kerwin and Furlong (2011) with regards to regulating healthcare cost demonstrates the use of rulemaking and the importance of procedure and judicial consideration of rules. The regulation of healthcare cost encompasses a synchronized effort of the concerned government agencies in ensuring that major deficiencies and loopholes were addressed to minimize negative implications to the healthcare industry’s economic significance. In consideration to Kerwin and Furlong’s arguments regarding rulemaking in the regulation of healthcare cost, interim final rulemaking procedures should be used in promulgating the problems that contributes to healthcare cost ( Calmus, 2012). For example, the Members of the Congress quickly initiated the provisions of the Affordable Care Act, but the lack of final rulemaking procedures undermined the process quality just in order to meet the implementation deadlines. As a result the ACA provisions have suffered inadequacies in terms of realistic cost-benefit analysis and considerations to rulemaking alternatives (Calmus, 2012). The resulting effect of the aforementioned inadequacies is the healthcare cost to keep on increasing with limited benefits.
The role of public comment period
Public comment period is a form of public consultation where important matters are being consulted to the public for consideration. The official comment period is 21 days, and the reply period is 21 days. The role of public comment period in healthcare cost regulation is to provide the rulemaking process with adequate time to consider the public’s input towards an important issue. It was mentioned earlier that the problem encountered by healthcare cost regulations is quick implementation of the policies without adequate time to analyze the cost-benefit variables and finding rulemaking alternatives. Alternatives include consideration to the public comment period, which could have been extended in order for the policy makers to obtain enough data to justify and test the applicability of the provisions applied in healthcare cost regulation policies. The official comment period is at a 21 days and can be extended to ensure that the majority of the public has expressed their comments towards the regulation policies.
References
Calmus, D. (2012, October 15). Affordable Care Act's rulemaking process: What the research shows. Retrieved June 30, 2014, from http://www.heritage.org/research/reports/2012/10/the-affordable-care-acts-rulemaking-process-what-the-research-shows
Kerwin, C. M., & Furlong, S. R. (2011). Rulemaking: How government agencies write law and make policy. Washington, D.C: CQ Press.
