The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) has decreed that there will be no public comment period for their proposed regulations.
The announcement was reported recently by news organizations, noting that HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. published the policy in the Federal Register late last week. The move appears to be unprecedented, and is expected to face court challenges.
HHS will now have the power to eliminate public participation in regulatory processes when the Department considers public engagement to be impracticable or unnecessary – or if it opposes public interest.
“Streamlining the decision-making process may offer administrative benefits,” wrote senior healthcare analyst Frank Cohen, in an email to RACmonitor. “Yet excluding affected parties from regulatory procedures threatens both transparency and public health policy integrity.”
Monitor Mondays will have complete coverage on this developing news during its regularly scheduled broadcast today at 10 Eastern.