Bush Administration ‘Quietly’ Rolling Back Clinton Regulations, WSJ Reports

Using the federal government's "far-reaching" regulatory authority to "stamp his imprint on American society," President Bush is "quietly and steadily" chipping away at regulations issued by the Clinton administration, the Wall Street Journal reports. For example, the Journal notes that Bush has "pleased" health care providers by his approach to enforcing rules aimed at reducing Medicare and Medicaid fraud. Regarding the fraud rules, Thomas Scully, administrator of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (formerly HCFA), said that "some of the [Clinton administration's] efforts became overzealous to the point where good, honest providers ... felt under siege." Saying "some nursing homes consistently comply with government rules better than others," Scully called one particular rule requiring HHS officials to survey practices at all nursing homes every 12 to 15 months "nutty." He added that the Bush administration is forming "teams of agency experts" to develop "new ways of doing business that will reduce administrative burdens and simplify our rules and regulations." The Journal reports that the administration has also granted Medicare HMOs have been granted "extra time" to decide whether they will exit the program and exempted them from collecting data that "might have led to lower payments for some" (Wall Street Journal, 8/3).