As the graph at right shows, the biggest part of the US budget is Health & Human Services. And five weeks ago they announced they’ll reduce public participation in their spending decisions: what they support and what they cut off.

This is a desperate mistake for the public’s interest, and thus for patients, because it’s now much easier for the agency to publish rules that the public might hate. Watch out. They promised a “new era of radical transparency” but this is the opposite. That’s fraud in the Senate confirmation process, and for your healthcare that’s not good.

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