Washington, DC - Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar issued the following statement today regarding the Office of Management and Budget’s release of the Fall 2018 Unified Agenda:

“Today’s report is more evidence that HHS is delivering on President Trump’s promise to reform regulations to unleash our economy while enhancing and protecting the health and well-being of the American people. HHS was the No. 1 Cabinet agency in terms of regulatory accomplishments for Fiscal Year 2018, reducing the burden of its regulations in present-value terms by $12.5 billion.

Under President Trump’s leadership, HHS continues to remove regulatory obstacles that get in the way of providers spending time with patients or that drive up the cost of healthcare. HHS’s work on regulatory reform will continue to reflect President Trump’s deep commitment to lower cost, higher quality healthcare that puts patients, not Washington, in the driver’s seat.”

Specific regulatory reform efforts at HHS have included the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services burden reduction initiatives, which will produce:

• $5.2 billion in savings from 2018 to 2021.
• More than 53 million hours of paperwork saved.
• 105 different clinical measures eliminated because they were unhelpful or no longer meaningful.

And Deputy Secretary Hargan’s Regulatory Sprint to Coordinated Care, which will:

• Examine the burdens created by current interpretations of the Stark Law, the Anti-Kickback Statute, HIPAA, and 42 CFR Part 2.
• Determine how these interpretations may be impeding care coordination, as part of Secretary Azar’s efforts to build a value-based healthcare system.
• Engage in rulemaking to empower clinicians and other providers to coordinate and deliver value.

Other examples of regulatory reform efforts include:

• Reforming the regulation of medication-assisted treatment providers for opioid abuse.
• Improving regulations of individual insurance and insurance exchanges.
• Empowering state and community partners to more efficiently deliver human services such as foster care and early childhood education.