The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services’ (HHS) Office for Civil Rights (OCR) recently announced a settlement with Heritage Valley Health System (Heritage Valley), which provides care in Pennsylvania, Ohio and West Virginia, concerning potential violations of the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) Security Rule, following a ransomware attack.

The 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline has expanded services and continued to answer millions of calls, texts and chats from people experiencing mental health or substance use crises since its launch on July 16, 2022, the agency heads for the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), Federal Communications Commission (FCC), and the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) announced this week. HHS has invested nearly $1.5 billion into 988 as part of the Biden-Harris Administration’s comprehensive strategy to address the nation’s mental health and substance use crises.

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), through the Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority (BARDA), part of the Administration for Strategic Preparedness and Response (ASPR), will provide approximately $176 million to Moderna for development of an mRNA-based pandemic influenza vaccine.

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services’ (HHS) COVID-19 Vaccination Public Education Campaign, We Can Do This, resulted in an estimated $731.9 billion in societal benefits due to averted illness and related costs, resulting in a nearly $90 return in societal benefits for every $1 spent, according to research published recently in the American Journal of Preventive Medicine.

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), through the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA), recently announced $105 million in funding to support more than 100 community-based organizations working to improve maternal and infant health.

The Biden administration will publish a final rule Friday that will allow about 100,000 uninsured people in the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program to enroll in state-run or private health insurance plans provided under the Affordable Care Act, administration officials said.

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services announced Thursday a $25,000 increase in loan forgiveness available to primary care providers in designated underserved areas. That means qualifying individuals are eligible for up to $75,000 in forgiveness if they commit to two full-time years of service.

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services’ (HHS) Office of the Assistant Secretary for Planning and Evaluation (ASPE) has published a groundbreaking report, The Fiscal Impact of Refugees and Asylees at The Federal, State and Local Levels From 2005-2019. 

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), through the Administration for Children and Families (ACF), recently released new guidance to grant recipients regarding the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development’s (HUD) Foster Youth to Independence (FYI) program. 

As part of continuing efforts by the Biden-Harris Administration to help people access comprehensive, high-quality health coverage, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) launched a new, online and user-friendly hub for partners to access critical Medicaid and Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP) renewal and transition resources.

In support of President Biden’s Unity Agenda efforts to beat the overdose epidemic, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) and the General Services Administration (GSA) recently announced new guidance recommending that all federal facilities across the nation include overdose reversal medications in their safety stations on site. The recommendation will make life-saving medications like naloxone more readily available in case of an emergency situation.

In first-of-its-kind research to examine racial and ethnic disparities in the medical costs of smoking in the United States, the Department of Health and Human Services’ Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) found that adults from some racial and ethnic populations benefit substantially more than others from tobacco control policies.