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2016 TAGGS Agencies

Department of Health & Human Services

Main Content
ACF

Administration for
Children & Families

Mark Greenberg


Acting Assistant Secretary


Mission: To foster health and well-being by providing federal leadership, partnership and resources for the compassionate and effective delivery of human services.

Organization: ACF is guided by the vision of “children, youth, families, individuals, and communities who are resilient, safe, healthy, and economically secure.” We seek to advance that vision by providing federal leadership, partnership, and resources for the compassionate and effective delivery of human services.

Administration for
Community Living

Kathy Greenlee


Administrator Assistant Secretary


Mission: Maximize the independence, well-being, and health of older adults, people with disabilities across the lifespan, and their families and caregivers.

Organization: ACL works with states, tribes, community providers, universities, nonprofit organizations, businesses and families to help older adults and people with disabilities live in their homes and fully participate in their communities.

acl
AHRQ

Agency for Healthcare
Research & Quality

Andrew B. Bindman, M.D.


Director


Mission: The Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality’s (AHRQ) mission is to produce evidence to make health care safer, higher quality, more accessible, equitable, and affordable, and to work within the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services and with other partners to make sure that the evidence is understood and used.

Assistant Secretary for
Planning & Evaluation

Richard Frank, Ph.D.


Assistant Secretary


Mission: The Assistant Secretary for Planning and Evaluation (ASPE) advises the Secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services on policy development in health, disability, human services, data, and science, and provides advice and analysis on economic policy. ASPE leads special initiatives, coordinates the Department's evaluation, research and demonstration activities, and manages cross-Department planning activities such as strategic planning, legislative planning, and review of regulations. Integral to this role, ASPE conducts research and evaluation studies, develops policy analyses, and estimates the cost and benefits of policy alternatives under consideration by the Department or Congress. Organization: ACL works with states, tribes, community providers, universities, nonprofit organizations, businesses and families to help older adults and people with disabilities live in their homes and fully participate in their communities.

Organization: ASPE, within the Office of the Secretary, is organized into principal offices: Office of Disability, Aging and Long-Term Care Policy, Office of Health Policy, Office of Human Services Policy/HHS’ Chief Economist, and Office of Science and Data Policy, as well as several smaller ones. Each of the major offices is headed by a Deputy Assistant Secretary.

ASPE
ASPR

Assistant Secretary for
Preparedness & Response

Nicole Lurie, M.D., M.S.P.H.


Assistant Secretary


Mission: To lead the country in preparing for, responding to, and recovering from the adverse health effects of emergencies and disasters by supporting our communities’ ability to withstand adversity, strengthening our health and response systems, and enhancing national health security.

Organization: ASPR, as delegated by the Secretary, leads the federal public health and medical response to public health emergencies and incidents covered by the National Response and National Recovery Frameworks. ASPR serves as the principal advisor to the Secretary on all matters related to public health and medical emergency preparedness and response and leads a collaborative approach to the Department’s preparedness, response and recovery portfolio. In addition to coordination of the federal public health and medical response to incidents, ASPR has operational responsibilities for the advanced research and development of medical countermeasures.

Centers For Disease Control

Dr. Tom Freiden


Director


Mission: CDC works 24/7 keeping America safe from health, safety, and security threats, both foreign and domestic. Whether diseases start at home or abroad, are chronic or acute, curable or preventable, human error or deliberate attack, CDC fights disease, and supports communities and citizens to do the same. CDC is the nation’s health protection agency — saving lives, protecting people from health threats, and saving money through prevention.

Organization: CDC’s Center, Institute, and Offices (CIOs) allow the agency to be more responsive and effective when dealing with public health concerns. The CIOs include the Center for Global Health (CGH), National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH), Office of Noncommunicable Diseases, Injury and Environmental Health (ONDIEH), Office of Public Health Preparedness and Response (OPHPR), Office of Public Health Scientific Services (OPHSS), and the Office for State, Tribal, Local, and Territorial Support (OSTLTS) Each group implements CDC′s response in their areas of expertise, while also providing intra-agency support and resource-sharing for cross-cutting issues and specific health threats.

CDC
CMS

Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services

Andy Slavit


Acting Administrator


Mission: To ensure effective, up-to-date healthcare coverage and to promote quality care for beneficiaries.

Organization: CMS covers 140 million people through Medicare, Medicaid, the Children's Health Insurance Program (CHIP), and the Health Insurance Marketplace. But coverage isn't our only goal. To achieve a high quality health care system, we also aim for better care at lower costs and improved health.

Medicare, the nation’s largest health insurance program, is a direct payment program and its funding levels are not included in the CMS grant totals. Grant programs which support the administration of some Medicare services are included in CMS totals. Examples of key CMS grant programs include the Medicare State Survey and Certification Group; CMS Research, Demonstrations and Evaluations; Medicare Hospital Insurance; and Medicare Supplementary Medical Insurance.

Medicaid provides healthcare to millions of low-income families with children, elderly, blind or disabled persons. It is the Department’s largest grant program in terms of funding levels. The CHIP allows states to initiate and/or expand health insurance to uninsured, low-income children.

Food & Drug Administration

Robert M. Califf, M.D.


Commissioner


Mission: To protect the public health by assuring the safety, effectiveness, and security of human and veterinary drugs, biological products, medical devices, our nation’s food supply, cosmetics, and products that give off radiation. The FDA is also responsible for advancing the public health by helping to speed innovations that make medicines and foods more effective, safer, and more affordable; and helping the public get accurate, science-based information they need to use medicines and foods to improve their health.

Organization: The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is a scientific regulatory agency that is responsible for protecting and advancing the public health in the United States: FDA’s responsibilities cover a wide range of regulatory activities. FDA decisions affect every American on a daily basis. Annually, consumers spend nearly $1.5 trillion, or more than 20 percent of all consumer expenditures, on FDA-regulated products.

FDA
HRSA

Health Resources &
Services Administration

Jim Macrae, M.S., M.P.P.


Acting Commissioner


Mission: To improve health and achieve health equity through access to quality services, a skilled health workforce and innovative programs.

Organization: Tens of millions of Americans get affordable health care and other help through HRSA's 90-plus programs and more than 3,000 grantees.

The Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA), an agency of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, is the primary Federal agency for improving access to health care by strengthening the health care workforce, building healthy communities and achieving health equity. HRSA’s programs provide health care to people who are geographically isolated, economically or medically vulnerable.

This includes people living with HIV/AIDS, pregnant women, mothers, and their families and those in need of high quality primary health care. HRSA also supports the training of health professionals, the distribution of providers to areas where they are needed most and improvements in health care delivery.

HRSA oversees organ, bone marrow and cord blood donation. It compensates individuals harmed by vaccination, and maintains databases that protect against health care malpractice, waste, fraud and abuse.

Since 1943 the agencies that were HRSA precursors have worked to improve the health of needy people. HRSA was created in 1982, when the Health Resources Administration and the Health Services Administration were merged.

Indian Health Service

Mary L. Smith


Principal Deputy Director


Mission: To raise the physical, mental, social, and spiritual health of American Indians and Alaska Natives to the highest level.

Organization: The Indian Health Service (IHS) provides a comprehensive health services delivery system for American Indians and Alaska Natives with opportunity for maximum tribal involvement in developing and managing programs to meet their health needs. IHS serves a population of approximately 2.2 million American Indians and Alaska Natives.

The IHS goal is to ensure that comprehensive, culturally acceptable personal and public health services are available and accessible to American Indian and Alaska Native people. The foundation of IHS is to uphold the federal government's obligation to promote healthy American Indian and Alaska Native people, communities, and cultures and to honor and protect the inherent sovereign rights of Tribes.

The IHS manages Discretionary and “Compact” awards. Compacts are written agreements consistent with the federal government’s trust responsibility, treaty obligations, and the government-to-government relationship between Indian Tribes and the United States and may only be amended by mutual agreement of the parties. Compacts are usually awarded with an “indefinite term” per the Indian Self-Determination and Education Assistance Act under Title V of the statute and therefore intended to be in place in perpetuity. Funding Agreements associated with Title V compacts identify the Programs, Functions, Services, and Activities (PFSAs) or portions thereof that will be assumed by a Tribe or tribal organization and the funding that is related to those PFSAs. Each Tribe has a sole right to its share of IHS PFSAs. Each Tribe chooses whether to receive the funding and each Tribe controls the timing of the funding agreement and the retention of the ongoing responsibility for so long as permitted by federal law or until terminated by mutual written agreement, retrocession, or resumption.

IHS
NIH

National Institutes of Health

Francis S. Collins, M.D., Ph.D.


Director


Mission: To seek fundamental knowledge about the nature and behavior of living systems and the application of that knowledge to enhance health, lengthen life and reduce illness and disability.

Organization: National Institutes of Health (NIH) is the primary federal agency for conducting and supporting medical research. Helping to lead the way toward important medical discoveries that improve people’s health and save lives, NIH cures for common and rare diseases. Comprised of 27 Institutes and Centers, NIH provides leadership and financial support to researchers in every state and throughout the world.

Office of the Assistant Secretary for Health

Karen B. DeSalvo, M.D., M.P.H., M.Sc.


Acting Assistant Secretary


Mission: Mobilizing leadership in science and prevention for a healthier nation.

Organization: OASH oversees 12 core public health offices — including the Office of the Surgeon General and the U.S. Public Health Service Corps — as well as 10 regional health offices across the nation and 10 Presidential and Secretarial advisory committees.

OASH
OGA

Office of Global Affairs

Jimmy Kolker


Assistant Secretary


Mission: To promote the health of people of the world by advancing the Department of Health and Human Services’ global strategies and partnerships, thus serving the health and well-being of the people of the United States.

Organization: OGA, within the Office of the Secretary, represents the Department to other governments, other federal departments and agencies, international organizations, and the private sector on international and refugee health issues.

Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology

Jon White, M.D.


Acting National Coordinator


Mission: ONC is the principal Federal entity charged with coordination of nationwide efforts to implement and use the most advanced health information technology and the electronic exchange of health information. The position of National Coordinator was created in 2004, through an Executive Order, and legislatively mandated in the Health Information Technology for Economic and Clinical Health Act of 2009.

Organization: The Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology is at the forefront of the administration’s health IT efforts and is a resource to the entire health system to support the adoption of health information technology and the promotion of nationwide health information exchange to improve healthcare. ONC is organizationally located within the Office of the Secretary for the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.

ONC
SAMHSA

Substance Abuse & Mental Health Services Administration

Kara Enomoto


Principal Deputy Administrator


Mission: It is SAMHSA's mission to reduce the impact of substance abuse and mental illness on America's communities.

Organization: The Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) is the agency within the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services that leads public health efforts to advance the behavioral health of the nation. SAMHSA's mission is to reduce the impact of substance abuse and mental illness on America's communities.

Prevention, treatment, and recover support services for behavioral health are important parts of the health service systems for our communities. These services work to improve our health and minimize cost to individuals, families, businesses, and governments. However, people with mental and/or substance use disorders often do not get the treatment they need. In 2015, over 19 million adults aged 18 or older had a substance abuse disorder and did not receive treatment, and almost 25 million adults with a mental illness did not use mental health services. The gap in service to this population unnecessarily jeopardizes the health and wellness of people and causes a ripple effect in costs to American communities.

Thanks for a Great Year!

Special Thanks for all those who work for the betterment of our country and humankind.

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