Times Testimony on Minnesota Department of Health Rule 4653 House Health and Human Services Policy Committee Chair: Rep. Lynda Boudreau
Health officials kept the average citizen in the dark about their plan. Although the department sent out notices to various individuals and organizations, the department buried the rulemaking process and the proposed rule in its website where even I, who was looking specifically for it, couldn't find it until I searched under the word "encounter," a word most of the public wouldn't know. Second, the department gave the rule a less than descriptive title: Proposed Permanent Rules for Administrative Billing Data. This title does not indicate that a patient-tracking system was being set up. And finally, the department did not distribute a press release on their intentions, inviting the public to comment.