The Department of Health and Human Services administers 115 programs across its 11 operating divisions. The United States Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) aims to "protect the health of all Americans and provide essential human services, especially for those who are least able to help themselves." These federal programs consist of social service programs,
civil rights and healthcare privacy programs, disaster preparedness programs, and health-related research. HHS offers a variety of social service programs geared toward persons with low income,
disabilities, military families, and senior citizens. Healthcare rights are defined under HHS in the
Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (
HIPAA) which protect patient's privacy in regards to medical information, protects workers health insurance when unemployed, and sets guidelines surrounding some health insurance. HHS collaborates with the
Office of the Assistant Secretary for Preparedness and Response and
Office of Emergency Management to prepare and respond to health emergencies. A broad array of health-related research is supported or completed under the HHS; secondarily under HHS, the
Health Resources & Service Administration houses data warehouses and makes health data available surrounding a multitude of topics. HHS also has vast offering of health-related resources and tools to help educate the public on health policies and pertinent
population health information. Some examples of available resources include
disease prevention, wellness, health insurance information, as well as links to healthcare providers and facilities, meaningful health-related materials,
public health, and safety information. Some highlights include: •
AI in health and social science research • Preventing disease, including immunization services •
ARPA-H • 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 •
Assets for Independence • Medical preparedness for emergencies, including potential terrorism • Child support enforcement
The Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) This program is to ensure the accountability of medical professionals to respect and carry out basic human health rights, under the act of the same name. In the United States, the government feels that it is essential for the American people to understand their civil duty and rights to all of their medical information. That includes health insurance policies or medical records from every doctor or emergency visit in one's life. Through Health & Human Services one can file a complaint that their HIPAA rights have been violated or a consultant will be able to decide if their rights were violated.
Social Services This branch has everything to do with the social justice, wellness, and care of all people throughout the United States. This includes but is not limited to people who need government assistance, foster care, unaccompanied alien children, daycares (headstart included), adoption, senior citizens, and disability programs. Social services is one of (if not) the largest branch of programs underneath it that has a wide variety throughout the United States at a state and local level.
Prevention and Wellness The prevention and wellness program's main idea is to give the American people the ability to live the healthiest and best lifestyle physically that they can. They are the ones who deal with vaccines and immunizations, which fight from common diseases to deadly ones. The nutrition & fitness program are the basics of healthy eating and regular exercise. Health screenings & family health history are crucial in the knowledge of each individual's health and body. A severely important one especially in today's society is mental health and substance use where they help people with mental illness and drug abuse. Lastly, they help with environmental health where people are researching and studying how our environments both physical and metaphorical have short- and long-term effects on our health and wellness.
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 that were engaged in Capacity Building programs. The grants were given to two different types of capacity builders: • 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 non-profit organizations. Capacity building in this program will involve education and outreach that catalyzes more involvement of non-profit organizations in economic recovery and building up non-profit organization's abilities to tackle economic problems. State, Local, and Tribal governments can receive up to $250,000 in two-year grants •
Non-profit Social Service Providers engaged in capacity building: they will make grants available to non-profit organizations that can assist other non-profit organizations in organizational development, program development, leadership, and evaluations. Non-profits can receive up to $1 million in two-year grants
Biodefense HHS plays a role in protecting the United States against
bioterrorism events. In 2018, HHS released a new National Biodefense Strategy required by the passage of the
2016 Biodefense Strategy Act. The Biodefense Strategy required the implementation of a biodefense strategy after a 2015
Blue Ribbon Study Panel on Biodefense report found that the 2009 National Strategy for Countering Biological Threats was inadequate in protecting the U.S. The strategy adopted these five central recommendations: creating a single centralized approach to biodefense; implementing an interdisciplinary approach to biodefense that brings together policymakers, scientists, health experts, and academics; drawing up a comprehensive strategy to address human, plant, and animal health; creating a defense against global and domestic biological threats; and creating a proactive policy to combat the misuse and abuse of advanced biotechnology. HHS also runs the Biodefense Steering Committee, which works with other federal agencies including the
U.S. Department of State,
U.S. Department of Defense,
U.S. Food and Drug Administration,
U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS), and the
Environmental Protection Agency. HHS specifically oversees
Project BioShield, established in 2003 and operating since 2004, and its development and production of vaccines. == Criticisms and controversies ==