Healthcare Law Highlights Problems With Regulatory Process

This excerpt was originally published in US News and World Report. Read the full article here.

While the Supreme Court weighs the constitutionality of the Affordable Care Act, Congress is holding hearings on the federal regulatory process. The two topics are more closely related than you might think. The healthcare law required many regulations, and thus far, the major regulations issued to implement the Affordable Care Act serve as ugly poster children for the regulatory reform movement.

Regulations like those implementing the healthcare law have major effects on Americans' healthcare choices and cost hundreds of millions of dollars. But when agencies don't even take the time to understand the problem, consumers may have to sacrifice personal freedom and precious dollars for an ineffective solution.

For decades, executive orders have required agencies to identify the problem the regulation seeks to solve when they issue major regulations. But the healthcare regulations don't do this—and neither do many others.