Since 1981, Congress has almost annually made a large number of changes in the Medicaid program. Of primary concern is that Congress, in annual budget legislation (often in the last days of a session), has either made the expansion of benefits effective regardless of whether or not HCFA promulgates implementing regulations or other guidance by a certain date or has made the expansion effective immediately.2...
Historical Recommendations (1968 - 1995)
- Recommendation number: 90-8
- Adopted on: December 18, 1990
- Tags: Congress, Health Care, Medicaid, Rulemaking
- Recommendation number: 89-1
- Adopted on: June 15, 1989
- Tags: Congress, Health Care, Medicare, Peer Review
As the Administrative Conference noted in Recommendation 86-5,1 the Medicare program relies heavily on implementation of federal requirements by localized carriers, intermediaries and, increasingly, peer review organizations (PROs).
The PRO system was created in 1982. It is made up of state-wide, physician-controlled organizations under individual contracts with the Department...
- Recommendation number: 89-2
- Adopted on: June 15, 1989
- Tags: Acquisition, Contracting Officers, Dispute Resolution, Disputes, Federal Acquisition Regulation, Government Contracts, Mediation, Procurement
An increasing number of problems in the management of government contracts are now referred to lawyers, accountants, and judges for resolution. This accelerating trend has tended to deemphasize the responsibility of the agency contracting officers, who (in most agencies) have traditionally played a key role in the procurement process, including dispute handling.1 Many contracting officers (“COs”) today are...
- Recommendation number: 89-3
- Adopted on: June 15, 1989
- Tags: Advisory Committees, Conflict of Interest, Congress, Disclosure, Ethics, Financial Disclosure, Special Government Employee
The law and practice regarding conflict-of-interest requirements for federal advisory committee members have developed from the interaction of three statutory schemes: the Federal Advisory Committee Act,1 the conflict-of-interest laws, and the federal personnel laws. However, none of these statutory schemes was drafted to deal specifically with conflict-of-interest standards for government advisers.
...- Recommendation number: 89-4
- Adopted on: June 16, 1989
- Tags: Adjudication, Asylum, Hearings, Immigration, Judicial Review
Providing asylum to the persecuted is a vital and treasured part of the American humanitarian tradition. It deserves reaffirmation and continued commitment. The asylum process, however, can also become a misused exception in the nation’s immigration laws, especially in a time of improved transcontinental travel and communications. Two important public values thus come into conflict in the asylum program. On...
- Recommendation number: 89-5
- Adopted on: June 16, 1989
- Tags: Chevron, Judicial Review, Statutory Interpretation
Agencies continually interpret the statutes they administer. Their interpretations are expressed in a great variety of formats—including, among others, legislative regulations, adjudicatory opinions, court briefs, interpretive rules, policy statements, staff instructions, correspondence, informal advice, press releases, guidance manuals, testimony before Congress, speeches, and internal memoranda. This...
- Recommendation number: 89-6
- Adopted on: June 16, 1989
- Tags: Conflict of Interest, Congress, Disclosure, Ethics, Executive Branch Appointees, Federal Employees, Financial Disclosure
Determining appropriate public financial disclosure requirements requires an assessment and accommodation of three concerns: the relevance of the information to conflicts of interest which might be faced by the individual in his or her official capacity; the practical burden faced by an individual who must assemble and report information accurately (including whether a nominee or employee would reasonably be...
- Recommendation number: 89-7
- Adopted on: December 14, 1989
- Tags: Biotechnology, Confidential Business Information (CBI), Congress, Interagency Coordination, Risk Assessment, Science
New biotechnology techniques promise great benefits in fields such as medicine, agriculture, and manufacturing. However, these new techniques, which involve alteration of the genetic structure of an organism, have raised concerns that some new organisms or products may be dangerous to individuals or detrimental to the environment. This recommendation addresses coordination of federal regulation in this area...
- Recommendation number: 89-8
- Adopted on: December 14, 1989
- Tags: Adjudication, Adjudicatory Decisions, Freedom of Information Act (FOIA), Indexing, Public Information
This recommendation examines the obligation of agencies to index and make their adjudicatory decisions available to the public.
The Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) imposes numerous affirmative disclosure obligations on agencies. Under 5 U.S.C. 552(a)(2), each agency, in accordance with published rules, is required to make final adjudicatory decisions and orders1 available...
- Recommendation number: 89-9
- Adopted on: December 15, 1989
- Immigration, Review of Discretionary Decisions, Visas
United States consulates around the world complete the processing of some nine million applications for immigrant and nonimmigrant visas each year. Approximately ninety percent are granted; ten percent are denied. Under current practice, the only review of a consular official’s denial of a visa may be by a more senior officer in the consulate, or, on points of law, by the Visa Office in the State Department...