Hatch blasts administration for reform law transparency

Sen. Orrin Hatch (R-Utah), a fervent opponent of the healthcare reform law, is accusing the administration of implementing the healthcare reform law in secrecy.

The Senate Finance Committee’s top Republican says the administration is avoiding the typical regulatory public comment process and is ignoring GOP lawmakers’ request for more information about the overhaul enacted almost a year ago.

Fifteen of the 23 regulations the Obama administration have issued to implement the law have been interim final rules, bypassing the proposed rule stage that allows for public comment, according to a new Congressional Research Service (CRS) report released by Hatch’s office. Three other final rules were issued without an earlier proposed rule.

Hatch said the CRS report blasts a hole in the administration’s promise for transparency.

“This White House promised the most open and transparent government in history. But the facts tell an entirely different story,” Hatch said. “According to an independent CRS report this administration circumvented the typical public rulemaking process 83 percent of the time in implementing the health law – shutting out the views and concerns of the American people in one of the largest expansions of the federal government in history."

However, a December CRS report on the same topic disputes Hatch’s claim, writing that the administration’s use of rulemaking to implement the law “does not appear to be either improper or unusual.” The new CRS report noted that the public had an opportunity to comment on the 15 interim final rules after they were issued.

The Department of Health and Human Services defended its public outreach efforts.

"We have made extensive efforts to obtain input from patients, providers, insurers, employers, states, and others as we develop policies to implement the Affordable Care Act," HHS spokeswoman Jessica Santillo said. "The public is still able to comment when we use Interim Final Rules and we have made several changes and clarifications to rules based on such input and will continue to do so."

Senate Finance Republicans also accused the administration of ignoring 35 of 62 written requests – or 67 percent – from GOP lawmakers for information about the law.

"This is in addition to dozens of other e-mail or telephone requests which also have not been addressed,” they wrote.

Santillo said HHS is working to comply with lawmakers' request for information.

"While some requests have been more extensive than others, we are working hard to pull together the information that is being requested on a timely basis," she said.

Hatch, who faces possible Tea Party opposition in 2012, has sharpened his rhetoric against the reform law since becoming the Senate Finance Committee’s ranking member. Last month, he called the reform law “a dumb-ass program” and a “piece of crap,” though he later apologized for his language.

This story was updated at 2:50 p.m. with HHS comments.