Thursday, June 21, 2012

Human Services


Several measures serve as indicators of the long-term financial status of Medicare. These include total Medicare spending as a share of gross domestic product (GDP), the solvency of the Medicare HI trust fund, Medicare per-capita spending growth relative to inflation and per-capita GDP growth; and general fund revenue as a share of total Medicare spending.



Overall health care costs are expected to increase by 5.8 percent annually from 2010 to 2020, in part because of increased utilization of medical services, higher prices for services, and new technologies.[75]Health care costs are rising across the board, but the cost of insurance has risen dramatically for families and employers as well as the federal government. In fact, since 1970 the per-capita cost of private coverage has grown roughly one percentage point faster each year that the per-capita cost of Medicare. Since the late 1990s, Medicare has performed especially well relative to private insurers.[76] Over the next decade, Medicare’s per capita spending is projected to grow at a rate of 2.5 percent each year, compared to private insurance’s 4.8 percent.[77] Nonetheless, most experts and policymakers agree containing health care costs is essential to the nation’s fiscal outlook. Much of the debate over the future of Medicare revolves around whether per capita costs should be reduced by limiting payments to providers or by shifting more costs to Medicare enrollees.

[edit]Indicators



'If a family's total income before taxes is below the poverty threshold, that family is in poverty, and all members of that family have the same poverty status. The same applies for a single individual. The poverty threshold is used by federal organizations, including the United States Census Bureau, but government aid programs do not have to use the threshold as a standard to determine eligibility.[3]

[edit]See also

[edit]References

Services

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
"HEW" redirects here. For the Hanford Engineer Works, see Hanford site.
"DHHS" redirects here. For Druid Hills High School, see Druid Hills High School.
Department of Health and Human Services
US-DeptOfHHS-Seal.svg
Official seal
US-DeptOfHHS-Logo.svg
HHS Logo
DHHS2 by Matthew Bisanz.JPG
DHHS headquarters in Washington, D.C. an example of Brutalist architecture
Department overview
FormedApril 11, 1953
May 4, 1980
Preceding DepartmentUnited States Department of Health, Education, and Welfare
JurisdictionFederal government of the United States
HeadquartersHubert H. Humphrey Building
Washington, D.C.
Employees67,000 (2004)
Annual budget$900,853 billion (2011)[1]
Department executivesKathleen Sebelius, Secretary
Bill Corr, Deputy Secretary
Child DepartmentHHS agencies
Website
Official Website
The United States Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) is a Cabinet department of the United States government with the goal of protecting thehealth of all Americans and providing essential human services. Its motto is "Improving the health, safety, and well-being of America". Before the separate federalDepartment of Education was created in 1979, it was called the Department of Health, Education, and Welfare (HEW).

Contents

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[edit]History

President Harding proposed a Department of Education and Welfare as early as 1923, and similar proposals were also recommended by subsequent presidents, but for various reasons were not implemented.[2]It[clarification needed] was only enacted thirty years later as part of the authority, in which the president was allowed to create or reorganize bureaucracies as long as neither house of Congress passed a legislative veto. This power to create new departments was removed after 1962, and in the early 1980s the Supreme Court declaredlegislative vetoes unconstitutional.
The Department of Health, Education, and Welfare was renamed the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) in 1979,[3] when its education functions were transferred to the newly created United States Department of Education under the Department of Education Organization Act.[4] HHS was left in charge of the Social Security Administration, agencies constituting the Public Health Service, and Family Support Administration.
In 1995, the Social Security Administration was removed from the Department of Health and Human Services, and established as an independent agency of the executive branch of the United States Government.
HHS is administered by the Secretary of Health and Human Services, who is appointed by the President with the advice and consent of the Senate. The United States Public Health Service (PHS) is the main division of the HHS and is led by the Assistant Secretary for Health. The current Secretary, Kathleen Sebelius is the Vice-Chair of the United States Interagency Council on Homelessness, and the Department of Health and Human Services is a member of the Council, which is dedicated to preventing and ending homelessness in America.
The United States Public Health Service Commissioned Corps, the uniformed service of the PHS, is led by the Surgeon General who is responsible for addressing matters concerning public health as authorized by the Secretary or by the Assistant Secretary of Health in addition to his or her primary mission of administering the Commissioned Corps. The Office of Inspector General (OIG) investigates criminal activity for HHS. The special agents who work for OIG have the same title series "1811", training and authority as other federal criminal investigators, such as the FBI, ATF, DEA and Secret Service. However, OIG Special Agents have special skills in investigating white collar crime related to Medicareand Medicaid fraud and abuse. Organized crime has dominated the criminal activity relative to this type of fraud.
HHS-OIG investigates tens of millions of dollars in Medicare fraud each year. In addition, OIG will continue its coverage of all 50 States and the District of Columbia by its multi-agency task forces (PSOC Task Forces) that identify, investigate, and prosecute individuals who willfully avoid payment of their child support obligations under the Child Support Recovery Act.
HHS-OIG agents also provide protective services to the Secretary of HHS, and other department executives as necessary.
In 2002, the department released Healthy People 2010, a national strategic initiative for improving the health of Americans.

[edit]Strengthening Communities Fund

In June 2010 the Department of Health and Human Services created the strengthening communities fund as part of the American Recovery and Reinvestment act. The fund was appropriated $50 million to be given as grants to organizations in the United States who were engaged in Capacity Building programs. The grants were given to two different types of capacity builders:[5]*State, Local and Tribal governments engaged in capacity building- grants will go to state local and tribal governments to equip them with the capacity to more effectively partner with faith-based or non-faith based nonprofit organizations. [6]
Capacity building in this program will involve education and outreach that catalyzes more involvement of nonprofit organizations in economic recovery
and building up nonprofit organization’s abilities to tackle economic problems. State, Local and Tribal governments can receive up to $250,000 in 2-year-grants
  • Nonprofit Social Service Providers engaged in capacity building- they will make grants available to nonprofit organizations who can assist other nonprofit organizations in organizational development, program development, leadership, and evaluations. Nonprofits can receive up to $1 million in 2-year-grants

[edit]Agencies[7]

[edit]Office of the Secretary (OS)

[edit]Operating divisions

HHS business areas.jpg
(Several agencies within HHS are components of the Public Health Service (PHS), including AHRQ, ASPR, ATSDR, CDC, FDA, HRSA, IHS, NIH, SAMHSA, OGHA, and OPHS).[9]

[edit]Former operating divisions and agencies

[edit]Budget

The Department of Health and Human Services' budget includes more than 300 programs, covering a wide spectrum of activities. Some highlights include:
  • Health and social science research
  • Preventing disease, including immunization services
  • Assuring food and drug safety
  • Medicare (health insurance for elderly and disabled Americans) and Medicaid (health insurance for low-income people)
  • Health information technology
  • Financial assistance and services for low-income families
  • Improving maternal and infant health, including a Nurse Home Visitation to support first-time mothers.
  • Head Start (pre-school education and services)
  • Faith-based and community initiatives
  • Preventing child abuse and domestic violence
  • Substance abuse treatment and prevention
  • Services for older Americans, including home-delivered meals
  • Comprehensive health services for Native Americans
  • Medical preparedness for emergencies, including potential terrorism.

[edit]Health care reform

The 2010 United States federal budget establishes a reserve fund of more than $630 billion over 10 years to finance fundamental reform of the health care system. [10]

[edit]Related legislation

[edit]See also

Portal iconGovernment of the United States portal
Portal iconHealth and fitness portal
Portal iconMedicine portal

[edit]External links

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