The House Ways and Means Committee voted Wednesday to repeal the healthcare law’s controversial CLASS program, clearing the way for a floor vote next month.

U.S. House Rep. Fred Upton (R-Michigan), Chair of the House Energy & Commerce panel; Rep. Joe R. Pitts (R-Pennsylvania), Chair of the panel’s Health Subcommittee; and Rep. Cliff Stearns (R-Florida), Chair the panel’s Oversight and Investigations Subcommittee sent a letter in December 2011 to the National Association of Insurance Commissioners (NAIC) that questioned whether Health & Human Services (HHS) officials dictated the rules on medical loss ratio (MLR) that NAIC forwarded to HHS in October 2010 for the new healthcare reform law.

Although the Securities & Exchange Commission recommended a universal fiduciary duty for retail investment advice nearly a year ago, it has yet to propose a rule.  A public request for information next month should provide the information needed to begin the rule-making process which could easily take a year or more.  The 2012 elections in addition to the need to conduct a cost-benefit analysis for the rule could lengthen the process even more.

The national healthcare reform law‘s unintended consequences have been well catalogued. This month marks a year since the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA) put into play one of its lesser known, but most damaging provisions.

“We hear a lot of talk from Capitol Hill about our industry not serving the American public, but few of us, including Capitol Hill, understand the true economic impact our industry provides to American consumers.