It seems to be a mandated requirement, as opposed to some subjective UI decision. The bigger deal is that it may indicate they don't have a good enough process to check/track these federal requirements.
To be fair, this is a reasonable assumption based on past experience. The government normally has no shortage of rules - it literally governs us. It's not unreasonable for some people to assume that this is a disorganized or inconsistent rollout rather than a form of social engineering meant to narrow the eligibility guidelines.
I'm not disagreeing with your point, but I wonder if you actually read the memo from the CIO, or are just speaking ex cathedra about the requirements being given?
I don't think this is true, or the rulemaking requirement wouldn't have been limited to electronic PHI, and wouldn't have occurred in the Administrative Simplification section.
What's wrong with the existing procedure, specifically? Why is it not adequate to view and comment on it at the time it is published in the Federal Register as a proposed rule? This is, after all, the whole point of the Federal Register.
Where was the pressure to change this rulemaking procedure over the last X years before this particular issue came up?
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