Difference between revisions of "Department of Health and Human Services"

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==[[silencing descent|Silencing Descent]]==
 
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In September 2009 the department openly threatened Humana Health Care in order to require that it to stop sending out political flyers to its members.  These flyers were critical of the [[Obama administration]]'s Health Care Reform initiatives.  While Humana voluntarily withdrew the information from its website and ceased sending the flyers, the chilling effect of threatening to withhold payments to a company by a government agency in order to change the free speech of the company is clear.
 
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[http://losangeles.bbn3.com/sectors/directory/orange-punch/136540]
 
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==[[pundit payola|Pundit Payola]]==
 
==[[pundit payola|Pundit Payola]]==
 
In early 2005, the Department came under fire for payments to two columnists and commentators, to promote the [[Bush administration]]'s pro-marriage initiatives. Neither person disclosed these payments, even as they continued to write and speak in favor of the initiative. [[Maggie Gallagher]] was paid a total of $41,500 for two federal contracts in 2002 and 2003, directly from HHS and through a [[Department of Justice|Justice Department]] grant. Her activities for the government included ghostwriting articles for officials, writing brochures and conducting trainings. [[Michael McManus]] was paid $10,000 through an HHS subcontractor, the [[Lewin Group]], for presentations and trainings. [http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A36545-2005Jan25.html] [http://www.truthout.org/docs_05/012905Z.shtml]  
 
In early 2005, the Department came under fire for payments to two columnists and commentators, to promote the [[Bush administration]]'s pro-marriage initiatives. Neither person disclosed these payments, even as they continued to write and speak in favor of the initiative. [[Maggie Gallagher]] was paid a total of $41,500 for two federal contracts in 2002 and 2003, directly from HHS and through a [[Department of Justice|Justice Department]] grant. Her activities for the government included ghostwriting articles for officials, writing brochures and conducting trainings. [[Michael McManus]] was paid $10,000 through an HHS subcontractor, the [[Lewin Group]], for presentations and trainings. [http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A36545-2005Jan25.html] [http://www.truthout.org/docs_05/012905Z.shtml]  

Revision as of 17:43, 29 September 2009

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) is "the United States 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." [1]

Pundit Payola

In early 2005, the Department came under fire for payments to two columnists and commentators, to promote the Bush administration's pro-marriage initiatives. Neither person disclosed these payments, even as they continued to write and speak in favor of the initiative. Maggie Gallagher was paid a total of $41,500 for two federal contracts in 2002 and 2003, directly from HHS and through a Justice Department grant. Her activities for the government included ghostwriting articles for officials, writing brochures and conducting trainings. Michael McManus was paid $10,000 through an HHS subcontractor, the Lewin Group, for presentations and trainings. [2] [3]

Department reorganization

Leavitt's team

Once "at the helm of the Department of Health and Human Services," Secretary Michael Leavitt "is once again luring the team to follow him," Ceci Connelly of the Washington Post wrote July 1, 2005.

"With 67,444 employees and an annual budget approaching $600 billion, HHS is a big leap for Secretary Leavitt and his inner circle. At the EPA, they oversaw 18,000 workers and a budget of less than $8 billion. The budget for the state of Utah this year is about $4 billion.

"Leavitt, 54, has created a command structure and policy blueprint to help him direct the sprawling department, which includes the National Institutes of Health, the Food and Drug Administration, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and the Medicare and Medicaid health programs for the elderly, poor and disabled.

"He is surrounding himself with a group of 'senior counselors,' a new title at the department that gives his most trusted aides the visibility and latitude to tackle high-priority matters. The counselors meet several times a week, sometimes with Leavitt, and serve as gatekeepers to the secretary."

500-day plan

"For a road map," Connelly wrote, "they are relying on Leavitt's 500-Day Plan, an ambitious set of goals and some steps for tackling them. The plan includes obvious areas such as modernizing Medicare and Medicaid and protecting the homeland, along with newer ones such as 'Protect Life, Family and Human Dignity' and 'Improve the Human Condition Around the World.'

"'The first principle of Leavitt management is offensive or proactive rather than defensive,' said Chief of Staff Rich McKeown. 'He positioned himself as governor, as administrator of EPA and secretary of HHS by doing things he can uniquely do and that are the most important things.'

"In particular, Leavitt is devoting much of his time to promoting the use of information technology in the health arena, preparing for a possible flu epidemic and fulfilling President Bush's mandate to make the Medicaid insurance program for the poor more efficient, McKeown said."

Nutrition Education Programs

In March 2004, HHS launched the Healthy Lifestyles and Disease Prevention Initiative, which "encourages American families to take small, manageable steps within their current lifestyle--versus drastic changes--to ensure effective, long-term weight control."[1] It features a website www.smallstep.gov, where then-HHS secretary Tommy Thompson explains that people don't need to resort to "extreme measures"--such as following a diet fad or joining a gym--to lose weight. Tips include such bold ideas as taking the stairs instead of the elevator.

Public health experts immediately questioned the campaign's effectiveness. The Center for Science in the Public Interest called it "more talk and no real help" for millions of Americans, while former U.S. Surgeon General David Satcher said that he had "no objections to small steps," but insisted that "there also need to be big steps."[2]

The campaign also includes bizarre public service ads, including one showing boys playing on the beach and discovering a human belly, and another featuring shoppers finding a double chin in a grocery store. Print ads focus on close-up shots of heavy stomachs, thighs, and buttocks and show how they might slim down as their owners get more active.[3]

Tommy Thompson also appeared at an obesity summit in June 2004, cohosted by Time magazine and ABC news, that brought together expert speakers to discuss how to turn around the obesity epidemic. In his keynote address, Thompson emphasized the seriousness of the obesity problem, noting that "America's eating habits and lack of physical activity are literally killing us, and they're killing us at record levels." Outlining his vision for solutions, Thompson placed personal accountability front and center: "We have to do it ourselves," calling on conference participants to "go out and spread the gospel of personal responsibility." Thompson went on to explain how the food industry was becoming increasingly responsive to making changes, and heaped glowing praise on them for their alleged newfound altruism.[4]

Thompson included Kraft, Coca-Cola, PepsiCo, and McDonald's on his list of companies committed to taking positive steps. He singled out McDonald's for its "conscientious" initiatives, including its new "Balanced Lifestyles Platform," and decision to serve more low-carb options. He also lauded Coke for "promising to end exclusive contracting in schools." During questions, State Representative Charlie Brown, chairman of Indiana's Public Health Committee, asked why, if Coca-Cola was such a responsible corporate citizen, it had sent a team of five lobbyists to kill his school nutrition bill? Thompson claimed to know nothing about it.[5]

USDA, HHS's product promotion & conflicts of interest

Got milk? & milk mustache ad campaigns

The milk mustache campaign [6] began in 1996 with a budget of $110 million, which increased to $190 million in 1998. The Got milk? slogan was licensed to the National Milk Processor Board (MilkPEP) in 1998 to use in their celebrity print ads. [7] The force behind the campaign is National Milk Processor Board (Fluid Board), administered by the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA). This board was established by the USDA's Fluid Milk Promotion Act of 1990 to promote increased demands for fluid milk products. [8]

Ads featured Secretary of Department of Health and Human Services, Donna Shalala and even President Clinton in major magazines such as Health; with a circulation of over 1 million readers. According to an HHS spokesperson defending the ad against consumer groups; no money was accepted and no ethics rules were breached. However, the same government agency charged with educating Americans about healthy eating is also promoting industry interests. It was considered a coup for the industry for the highest ranking government health official to endorse their product for free. In 1996, the USDA Economic Research Service reported that generic advertising raised fluid milk sales by approximately one billion pounds (4.4 %) between September of 1993 and August of 1994. [9] See also U.S. Department of Agriculture, section 4.1.

Personnel

Programs

"The Department includes more than 300 programs, covering a wide spectrum of activities. Some highlights include: [4]

  • Medical and social science research
  • Preventing outbreak of infectious 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)
  • Financial assistance and services for low-income families
  • Improving maternal and infant health
  • Head Start (pre-school education and services)
  • 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
  • Obesity Working Group

"HHS is the largest grant-making agency in the federal government, providing some 60,000 grants per year. HHS' Medicare program is the nation's largest health insurer, handling more than 900 million claims per year." [5]

Agencies

  • Administration for Children and Families (ACF)
  • Administration on Aging (AoA)
  • Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ)
  • Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry (ATSDR)
  • Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)
  • Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS)
  • Food and Drug Administration (Food and Drug Administration)
  • Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA)
  • Indian Health Service (IHS)
  • National Institutes of Health (NIH)
  • Office of Global Health Affairs
  • Office for Civil Rights - HIPAA
  • Program Support Center (PSC)
  • Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA)

The Social Security Administration became an independent agency in 1995.

Articles & sources

SourceWatch articles

References

  1. ↑ HHS "Citing "Dangerous Increase" in Deaths, HHS Launches New Strategies Against Overweight Epidemic," March 9, 2004
  2. ↑ Quoted in Michele Simon, Appetite for Profit: How the Food Industry Undermines Our Health and How to Fight Back (Nation Books, 2006) pg 150
  3. ↑ Michele Simon, Appetite for Profit pg 150-151
  4. ↑ Remarks quoted in Michele Simon, Appetite for Profit pg 152
  5. ↑ Michele Simon, Appetite for Profit pg 153-154
  6. ↑ Drink Well, Live Well, Whymilk.com, 2009
  7. ↑ Got Milk?, Americola, accessed February 2009
  8. ↑ USDA Seeks Nominations for National Fluid Milk Board, U.S. Department of Agriculture, Agricultural Marketing Service Release No. 177-08, September 2008
  9. ↑ Michele Simon Dairy Industry Propaganda: Tale of Two Mega-Campaigns, Vegan.com, April 1999

External articles

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