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The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services’ (HHS) Office for Civil Rights (OCR) has issued a Notice of Final Determination finding that Cignet Health of Prince George’s County, Md., (Cignet) violated the Privacy Rule of the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 (HIPAA). HHS has imposed a civil money penalty (CMP)...
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Driving under the influence seems to be frighteningly common. HHS’ Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration reviewed state-by-state survey data on people who were asked about drunken and drugged driving during a year. Researcher Pete Delany: “About 13.2 percent of the population 16 or older drove under the influence of alcohol. And about...
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U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Kathleen Sebelius and U.S. Associate Attorney General Thomas J. Perrelli today announced a new report showing that the government’s health care fraud prevention and enforcement efforts recovered more than $4 billion in taxpayer dollars in Fiscal Year (FY) 2010. This is the highest annual amount...
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Antibiotics treat bacterial diseases, and sometimes save lives. But can we save antibiotics? Bacteria are evolving ways to evade the effects of some crucial antibiotics. At the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, researcher Lauri Hicks says that’s partly because doctors and patients have given bacteria too many chances to evolve: “There is a...
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WASHINGTON – The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) today are announcing important steps to ensure that standards and guidelines on fluoride in drinking water continue to protect the American people while promoting good dental health, especially in children. HHS is proposing that the recommended...
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New proposed Affordable Care Act regulations announced today by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) claim they will bring new transparency and scrutiny to proposed health insurance rate increases. These proposed rules, the agency says, allow HHS to work with states to require insurers to publicly disclose and justify unreasonable rate...
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