Clarity or Chaos: HHS Finalizes Rule to Review Regulations

On Friday, January 8, the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) issued a final rule, to be known as the Securing Updated and Necessary Statutory Evaluations Timely (SUNSET) rule. Essentially, the rule builds on the efforts of previous administrations—going all the way back to the Carter presidency—to review and improve the federal regulation process. The broad-stroke take on this latest government effort is that there will be a mandated decadal review of certain health-related regulations; and—here’s the kicker—if the government fails to review a particular regulation, it goes off the books.