A conservative nonprofit group is putting pressure on the Obama administration to delay major regulations from the healthcare reform law.
The Minnesota-based Citizens Council for Health Freedom says the administration is trying to “rush ‘ObamaCare’ ” by providing just 30 days for comment on major pieces of the program.
The group has asked supporters to write the Health and Human Services Department and demand that the rule-making process be slowed down.
"The Obama administration has given you just 30 days over the holidays to read more than 700 pages of proposed ObamaCare regulations which unless you act will become law. They want to rush ObamaCare into implementation. You can help slow it until repeal," the organization wrote.
The group’s efforts have resulted in a flood of comments on four proposals that outline rules for the healthcare exchanges and partnering with state plans, among others. Of the more than 1,500 total comments the administration has received, a large portion include the language suggested by Citizens Council for Health Freedom asking for a 60-day extension.Other comments submitted to the administration echo the call for a slower implementation.
"It's the Christmas rush and you think that I have time to read a 700-page document? Please extend the deadline by two months!" wrote Joanne Smith from Minnesota.
And Steve Kintgen of Minnesota commented, "This is quite unrealistic and in bad taste and quite contrary to 'We the People' not to have a adequate [sic] chance outside of Advent and the Christmas season to be able to read and digest all this information."
Co-founded by registered nurse Twila Brase in 1998, the Citizens Council for Health Freedom aims to reduce "dependency on government healthcare programs," according to its website.
Brase said the short-time frame given to comment on the regulations was "unfair."
"My hope is that they actually extend the deadline. … It's really important for the public to know what's in there," she told The Hill. "We don't look at it as a law that will remain in place. So for our purposes, it's important to slow the process down."
Brase said more than 70 percent of the comments on two of the regulatory proposals called for a longer review process.
The regulatory proposals from the healthcare law are available for comment on Regulations.gov. The agencies rolling out the programs, the Department of Health and Human Services and the Office of Personnel Management, provided 30-day comment deadlines for the proposed regulations that ended on Dec. 26, Dec. 31 and Jan. 4.
The agencies are required to respond to the comments before any of the proposed regulations become final.
— This story was updated at 11:51 a.m.
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