U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) is the primary agency responsible for administering human services throughout the United States for people who are uninsured, isolated or medically vulnerable. It makes healthcare insurance more affordable through the Affordable Care act (ACA), Medicaid, Medicare, and Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP). Implement and enforce public health safety, provide education and training, research, protect health care rights, and social services. It has a total of ten organizations that falls under its umbrella and offices and agencies that establish policies related to health care and legislation. It is instrumental in implementing laws and enforcing regulations that congress and executive branch mandates it to do.
The Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) is the federal agency within the Health and Human Services that runs Medicare and Medicaid. In addition to Medicare and Medicaid CMS oversees the Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP), the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) and the Clinical Laboratory Improvement Amendments (CLIA), among other services.1 It provides quality healthcare services to the indigent, elderly, and other needs based groups and also has been charged with the implantation of electronic health records program. It drives policy development and analysis, program operations and budget preparation, health care research and demonstrations, data collection and
The entities Comprising the Public Health Infrastructure include: County and city health departments and local boards of health - State, territorial, and island nation health departments - Various U.S. Public Health Service agencies in the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) - Tribal health agencies coordinated at HHS by the Indian Health Service - Public and private laboratories - Hospitals and other private-sector healthcare providers - Volunteer organizations, such as the American Red Cross, American Diabetes Association, American Cancer Society.
The major focuses of HHS were the Office of Human Development Services, the Public Health Service, HCFA, and the Social Security Administration. But HHS were most worried about in 1980 were health care finance. And to make thing worse, by the 1990s HHS lost a major operating agency, when SSA decided to go independent. Even with all the changes, HHS still remains a government agency that is responsible for federal policy. HHS is responsible for the curing and caring for those affected by immune deficiency syndrome, preserving the health insurance right of people with disabilities, and assuring the long-range solvency of the Medicare programs. It is the mission of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Service (HHS) to enhance and protect the Health and well-being of all American. The
Medicare and Medicaid information can be overwhelming and confusing to both the consumer and the healthcare professional. The information highway known as the World Wide Web (WWW) can provide the answers to questions about these government benefits, but getting clear, informative and accurate knowledge can be overwhelming. O’Sullivan (2011) identified the WWW as “a primary repository for health information for the medically naïve yet technically savvy healthcare consumer.” One internet website that provides information about Medicare and Medicaid is CMS.gov ("Cms.gov centers for”). The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) is the United States agency that administers Medicare,
The Centers of Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) is a branch of the United States Department of Health and Human Services
The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) is the U.S. government’s principal agency for protecting the health of all Americans and providing essential human services, especially for those who are least able to help themselves. HHS is responsible for almost a quarter of all federal outlays and administers more grant dollars than all other federal agencies combined. The mission of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) is to enhance the health and well-being of Americans by providing for effective health and human services and by fostering sound, sustained advances in the sciences underlying medicine, public health, and social services. In addition, HHS is also responsible to provide better services to people by adapting to new technologies to keep pace with the advancement in technology. As we compare the health and human services from last ten years to present, it is very clear to analyze how health and human systems have improved over the years. The Department manages programs that cover a vast spectrum of activities that impact health, public health, and human services outcomes throughout the life span.
Another provision that the ACA provided was creating the Center for Medicare & Medicaid Innovations within the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) in order to test new payment and service delivery models designed to reduce costs and increase quality of care to those that receive these benefits.² In this briefing, information about this organization, including financing and delivery, and the impact of the ACA on the Medicaid Program and the
The US Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) defines medically underserved area as ranking low on a scale that involves physicians per 1000 people, infant mortality rate, percentage below poverty level, and population >65 years old. 9 The HHS defines medically underserved population as that which includes “economic barriers (low income or Medicaid-eligible populations or cultural/linguistic access barriers to primary medical care services.” 9 According to the American Pharmacist Association, approximately 85% of US states have 61-100% of counties with medically underserved areas. 11 “28% of poor, 23% of near poor…[lack] health insurance coverage,” which is much higher than the national percentage of 13%.6 When reviewing the risk factors for vaginitis such as lack of health insurance, tobacco use, lack of bachelors degree, Hispanic origin, etc., many of the women suffering from the condition fall under the category of the underserved population as defined above. This means that clinics with the purpose of treating underserved areas and populations must have a heightened awareness of the prevalence and significance of vaginitis and must be interested in staying up to date on the most efficient medical practice strategies given the patient population.
“Go Paperless and Get Paid” is how the Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology (ONC) presents the incentives for electronic health records. The United States Department of Health and Human Services (U.S. Department of HHS) distributed more than $160 billion dollars to “improve and preserve health care, health information technology, community health, and prevention initiatives” (United States Department of Health and Human Services [HHS], 2014e). Likewise, the ONC offers “Health IT Adoption Programs” through the Health Information Technology for Economic and Clinical Health (HITECH) Act, seeking to advance the American health care delivery system and to improve patient care through an unique investment towards health information technology (HHS, 2014d). Additionally, the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 allows the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) to reward eligible hospitals and professionals with monetary incentives as they implement, adopt, or upgrade and demonstrate meaningful use of certified electronic health record (EHR) technology (HHS, 2014b). The Electronic Health Records Improvement Act (H.R. 1331) introduced by the United States House of Representative Diane Black is a bill to further improve the nation’s health care adoption of health information technology.
In 2010, the U.S Department of Health and Human Services crafted the nation’s 10 year health agenda. Healthy People 2020 outlines key objectives aimed at improving the standard of care health consumers receive by improving both the quality and format of health information offered to consumers as well as improving the consumers’ ability to obtain and process that information. These objectives included supporting shared decision-making between patients and providers, increasing health literacy skills, and delivering accurate, accessible, and usable health information that is targeted or tailored to the individual. (“Healthy People.gov” 2015)
Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Service (CMS) provides health coverage through Medicare, Medicaid, Children’s Health Insurance Program, and the Health Insurance Marketplace. “The CMS seeks to strengthen and streamline the Nation’s health care system, to provide access to high quality care and improved health at lower costs” (CMS Quality Strategy, 2016). The CMS provides health insurance to those who are uninsured or underinsured to those who are low-income families, adults, seniors, and people with disabilities.
The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act was created to improve the efficiency of how health organizations will improve patient outcomes and accountability, aid in coordination of that care; improve and promote effective health management across organizations, as well as align incentives with good patient outcomes. It was designed to use electronic health records with in and across health organizations in order to improve the outcomes of medical care. In order to do this correctly, health and medical organizations must “meaningfully” use the programs that are available in order to receive any incentives given by Medicaid and Medicare.
The federal insurance program, Medicare (also referred to as Title 18 of the Social Security Act1) was passed into law in 1965 to provide healthcare for people aged 65 and over irrespective of their income, health status or medical history. Individuals under 65 years but with permanent disability were not included until the Medicare program was expanded in 19722. Individuals of any age that have been diagnosed with end-stage kidney disease (chronic renal failure) and requiring continuous dialysis or renal transplant are also covered. The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid (CMS), a division of the Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) has administrative oversight over the operation of the Medicare program. Since it is a
Medicaid and the Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP) provide critical health coverage for millions of people. Through these programs, CMS supports access to care in several ways. First and foremost, providing health coverage allows individuals to access health care services that may not be affordable without Medicaid or CHIP. Additionally, some programs and benefits under Medicaid and CHIP include special protections to ensure services are accessible, such as provider network standards, payment methodologies, and other protections. CMS acknowledges the importance of using services, including preventative care, to help people stay healthy and avoid more costly care and has developed resources and materials to help Medicaid and CHIP beneficiaries understand the importance of these services and learn how to access them. To understand and ensure progress, CMS supports a variety of efforts to
To begin, the Department of Health and Human Services or HSS is a federal agency that is responsible for maintaining the health of Americans and regulating federal programs like Medicare, Medicaid and the Children’s Health Insurance Program (U.S. Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services). Now, these are some serious people and what they do is very important to the welfare of the citizens of this country. The HSS had six goals they wanted to undertake between 2010 and 2015. Some of those objectives were to strengthen health care, advance scientific knowledge and innovation and lastly to advance the health, safety, and overall well-being of the nation (The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, 2013).