Politico: Five Things Trump Did This Week While You Weren'tLooking
1. Trump administration hints at big Medicare experiments
This week, the Trump administration took the first step toward reforming CMMI when it released a nine-page notice asking for comments on a “new direction” for the agency. The notice is just a preliminary move—it doesn’t actually change any policy right now—but it sends a clear message about how Tom Price, secretary of Health and Human Services, and Seema Verma, director of Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, intend to use the agency. The notice emphasizes the need for a more “market-based” direction, saying consumers should be empowered “to drive change in the health system through their choices.” The notice doesn’t specify any policy changes but the language may signal that Price and Verma want to test Medicare premium support, an idea long favored by Ryan and Price. Instead of paying for health care, premium support would change Medicare into an insurance subsidy that recipients would use to purchase private insurance. The idea is extremely controversial and loathed by Democrats.
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2. Labor Department delays a rule on cancer-causing silica dust
In March 2016, the Department of Labor issued a regulation lowering the workplace exposure standard for silica, a mineral that can cause lung cancer when ground into dust and inhaled. The final rule was heralded by workplace advocates as long overdue—it took more than four decades to finalize—and was set to be enforced on June 23.
But in April, the Department of Labor announced it was delaying enforcement of the rule for three months until September 23. Technically, that date still stands. But this week, the agency issued a memo, saying that as long as employers show they have made a “good faith effort” to comply with the rule, the agency will give them a pass for any violations in the next 30 days. In other words, the silica rule is effectively delayed another month. The delay is a victory for industry groups, but it is likely to be short-lived: Unlike with some other rules, the Labor Department does not appear to be delaying the enforcement date of the silica rule to give itself additional time to repeal or rewrite it.
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3. Trump issues new executive order on North Korea
So it was this week when Trump announced an executive order that attempts to further cut off North Korea from the world. The sanctions are a step beyond anything that the U.S. has imposed on Pyongyang in the past, drawing praise from former Obama administration officials. The order allows the Treasury Department to sanction any individual who operates in major North Korean industries like textiles and manufacturing; who owns or operates North Korean ports; who imports or exports significant goods, services or technology to or from North Korea; or who generates revenue for the government. It also prohibits any foreign-owned aircraft or vessel from coming to the U.S. within 180 days of visiting North Korea.
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4. EPA delays its formaldehyde rule, again
But this week, the EPA announced that it was effectively delaying the formaldehyde rule another year by extending the rule’s compliance deadlines. In other words, even though the rule took effect, companies don’t yet actually have to comply with different pieces of the rule until sometime in the future. In some cases, the new compliance deadline is far in the future—in one case, not until 2024.
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5. A smaller move on immigration—and a big one coming soon
First, DHS extended a special immigration status for Sudanese and South Sudanese nationals that had been set to expire later this year. The status, known as Temporary Protected Status, allows foreign nationals whose home country is hit by a war or natural disaster to temporarily live and work in the U.S. Sudanese nationals can now stay until November 2018, while South Sudanese nationals can stay until May 2019. It’s a sign that despite Trump’s immigration crackdown, DHS isn’t just deporting all foreign nationals without considering their individual circumstances.
Be that as it may, there’s more change afoot. The Trump administration is reportedly preparing to impose tighter vetting procedures on a broad list of countries, a replacement for Trump’s travel ban, which attempted to block people from seven Muslim-majority countries from entering the United States. The ban, which has been tied up in the courts, expires on September 24, so the Trump administration had to make a decision. Expect more on the new vetting program in the coming days.
http://www.politico.com/agenda/story/2017/09/22/trump-policy-medicare-regulation-immigration-000533
