Health and Human Services

Medicare Paid $5.6 Billion To Drugstores For Questionable Billings

AP | RICARDO ALONSO-ZALDIVAR | Posted 05.10.2012

WASHINGTON — It would take a mighty big pill box to hold them. A pharmacy in Kansas billed Medicare for more than 1,000 prescriptions each for ...

Elise Foley

Perry Claims Obama Encourages Unauthorized Immigration By Minors

HuffingtonPost.com | Elise Foley | Posted 05.08.2012

WASHINGTON -- Texas Gov. Rick Perry accused the Obama administration last week of skirting its immigration enforcement duties to the point of encourag...

An HHS Pork Mandate?

Ken Blackwell | Posted 05.06.2012

Ken Blackwell

The HHS Mandate forces millions of Americans to violate their consciences by active participation in this attack on the Culture of Life. It must be resisted. And resisted not just by Catholics, but by all Americans who cherish religious liberty.

Health Equity Can't Wait

Sec. Kathleen Sebelius | Posted 04.12.2012

Sec. Kathleen Sebelius

April is National Minority Health Month, a time to raise awareness about the well-documented health disparities that continue to affect racial and ethnic minorities, as well as highlight how the Affordable Care Act is reducing those disparities.

Health And Human Services' Sacrosanct Mandate

Sister Mary Ann Walsh | Posted 03.30.2012

Sister Mary Ann Walsh

Reams of paper emanate from the HHS about how to "accommodate" religious groups that are upset by their recent mandate. Yet for all the fallen trees, HHS ignores a neuralgic point: the government has overstepped its boundaries when it defines what constitutes religious ministry.

'Excessive' Health Insurance Premium Hikes Called Out by Obama Administration

The Huffington Post | Jeffrey Young | Posted 03.22.2012

Health insurance premium hikes in nine states as high as 24 percent are "excessive" and should be blocked, the federal Department of Health and Human ...

Preventing Tobacco Use Among Youth and Young Adults

Sec. Kathleen Sebelius | Posted 05.08.2012

Sec. Kathleen Sebelius

Over the last three years, we've made significant strides in our fight against tobacco, and our efforts are paying off. But today's report is an important reminder to our nation that we have a lot more work to do to make tobacco death and disease part of our past.

Sam Stein

Kathleen Sebelius Decries 'Cynical Attempt To Roll Back Decades Of Progress In Women's Health'

HuffingtonPost.com | Sam Stein | Posted 02.29.2012

WASHINGTON -- Minutes after former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney found himself tripped up over whether or not he supported a bill that would allow em...

Jeffrey Young

$375 Million Health Care Fraud Suspect Gave Cash To Tea Party Group

HuffingtonPost.com | Jeffrey Young | Posted 02.29.2012

If Texas physician Jacques Roy turns out to be guilty of charges he conspired to defraud Medicare and Medicaid of almost $375 million, we'll know wher...

State Budget Needs a "Rendezvous" With Women's Reality, Too

K. Sujata | Posted 04.25.2012

K. Sujata

Women and girls are already receiving such a wafer-thin slice of the pie, and there's no room to trim it further without creating a domino effect that will hurt women, their families and their communities.

We Can't Wait: Taking Action on Alzheimer's Disease

Sec. Kathleen Sebelius | Posted 04.10.2012

Sec. Kathleen Sebelius

We can't wait to act. As the population of the United States ages, the time for bold action on the growing public health challenge posed by Alzheimer's is now.

FDA Staffers Sue Agency Over Surveillance Of Personal E-mail

The Washington Post | Posted 01.30.2012

The Food and Drug Administration secretly monitored the personal e-mail of a group of its own scientists and doctors after they warned Congress that t...

HHS "ABC" Rule: Anybody But Catholics Has Religion Freedom

Sister Mary Ann Walsh | Posted 03.26.2012

Sister Mary Ann Walsh

This egregious violation of religious freedom marks the first time in our history that the federal government is forcing religious people and groups to ante up for services that violate their consciences.

Lynne Peeples

Watchdog Groups Slam Military's Ongoing 'Secrecy' Over Camp Lejeune Water Contamination

HuffingtonPost.com | Lynne Peeples | Posted 01.24.2012

Government watchdogs are crying "bullshit" and calling the U.S. Navy a "bully" in response to a redacted federal report on the drinking water supply a...

Amanda Terkel

Elizabeth Warren Weighs In On Plan B Emergency Contraception

HuffingtonPost.com | Amanda Terkel | Posted 12.16.2011

WASHINGTON -- Elizabeth Warren has spoken almost exclusively about the economy in her public appearances as she runs for U.S. Senate in Massachusetts....

9 States Win Race To The Top Early Learning Grant

AP | KIMBERLY HEFLING | Posted 02.15.2012

WASHINGTON — Nine states won a collective $500 million Friday from the federal government to help make pre-K and other early learning programs m...

Plan B Falls Victim to Plan P: Politics

Emily Spitzer | Posted 02.09.2012

Emily Spitzer

Plan B is the simplest birth control pill there is -- it's a morning after pill for women. One pill, taken the morning after sexual intercourse, prevents pregnancy. Indeed, the pill's simplicity is what's made it a target.

Alicia Ciccone

Plan B Controversy: What Do Small Pharmacies Think?

HuffingtonPost.com | Alicia Ciccone | Posted 12.10.2011

In a surprising move, U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius overturned Wednesday's ruling by the Food and Drug Administration tha...

Laura Bassett

Catholic Clergy Raises False Alarms About Birth Control Mandate

HuffingtonPost.com | Laura Bassett | Posted 11.29.2011

The Catholic clergy has aggressively lobbied against the Obama administration's proposed rules for contraception coverage for the past few months, arg...

States' Health Care Hypocrisy Revealed

AP | RICARDO ALONSO-ZALDIVAR | Posted 01.29.2012

WASHINGTON — Federal officials announced Tuesday they are awarding more money to help states carry out President Barack Obama's health care over...

New Administration Program Offers Big Cash Rewards For Ideas

AP | Posted 01.14.2012

WASHINGTON — The Obama administration is tapping the health care overhaul law to advance its economic agenda, a political priority for the White...

Problems Persist With Contractors Paid To Ferret Out Medicare Fraud

AP | KELLI KENNEDY | Posted 01.13.2012

MIAMI — Contractors paid tens of millions of taxpayer dollars to detect fraudulent Medicare claims are using inaccurate and inconsistent data th...

Catholic Bishops' Dispute With HHS Continues

Sister Mary Ann Walsh | Posted 01.05.2012

Sister Mary Ann Walsh

The most memorable line since Richard Nixon's "I am not a crook" has just come out of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS): "I'm not trying to get anyone off the hook here."

John Celock

Governors Provide Recommendations On Health Care Exchanges

HuffingtonPost.com | John Celock | Posted 01.03.2012

The nation's governors sent the Obama Administration recommendations Thursday morning regarding the implementation of health care exchanges as a feder...

Conservative Religious Organizations Wage Another Battle Against Contraception

Sally Steenland | Posted 12.25.2011

Sally Steenland

Religious organizations cannot have it both ways. They cannot claim a religious exemption and at the same time employ people whose worldview and beliefs are very different from theirs.