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http://www.hhs.gov/news/newsletter/weekly
IN THIS ISSUE:
1) HHS unveils Red Dress Project for women's heart health
2) President Bush to expand coverage of the uninsured
3) Welfare reform working, report says
4) NHLBI Study Finds Possible New Indicator of Heart Disease Risk
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HHS unveils Red Dress Project for women's heart health
HHS Secretary Tommy G. Thompson launched a new national partnership with Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week and top fashion designers to raise awareness about the number one killer of American women -- heart disease.
The centerpiece of The Heart Truth campaign is the "Red Dress Project," a collection of 19 red dresses from America's most prestigious designers. The dresses symbolize the critical nature of heart disease among women.
"Many people still believe that cardiovascular disease is a man's disease, when in reality, it has claimed the lives of more females than males since 1984, killing more than half a million women a year," Secretary Thompson said. "However, many risk factors such as smoking, high blood pressure, physical inactivity and obesity are controllable. That means each of us can take steps to help reduce our risks and prevent this deadly disease."
Research shows that women are more worried about cancer than heart disease -- especially breast cancer. According to a survey commissioned by the National Council on the Aging, only 9 percent of women ages 45 to 64 name heart disease as the condition they most fear -- while 61 percent name breast cancer. Yet, heart disease, which includes coronary artery disease, congestive heart failure, angina, and other conditions, is the leading cause of death in American women, accounting for 366,000 deaths in 2000.
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President Bush to expand coverage of the uninsured
President Bush's fiscal year 2004 budget includes new initiatives and expands existing programs to improve access to health care and coverage for more than 40 million Americans without health insurance. The budget would expand community health centers, strengthen and modernize the Medicaid program, offer health tax credits to help individuals obtain insurance, and extend Medicaid and State Children's Health Insurance Program (SCHIP) coverage to more Americans who otherwise would go without coverage.
"President Bush's budget will give millions more Americans the security of health insurance and improved access to needed health care and preventive services," Secretary Thompson said. "Recognizing that far too many Americans still lack health insurance, we must move forward on many fronts to help low- and moderate-income Americans, especially children, get care and stay healthy."
Key elements of the President's plan include:
Expanding health centers. Increase funding for community health centers by $169 million under the third year of the President's five-year initiative to add or expand 1,200 health center sites and provide health care to more than 6 million additional Americans.
Recruiting clinicians in underserved rural and urban areas. The National Health Service Corps will see an increase of $24 million to meet the demands for physicians and other clinicians in health centers and other underserved areas.
Strengthening and modernizing Medicaid. The President's budget proposes significant new flexibility for states in serving non-mandatory Medicaid populations. The proposal would retain current coverage for all those legally entitled to Medicaid, while proposing flexibility for states to tailor coverage for additional low-income people whom states choose to cover.
Offering health credits. The President also proposes $89 billion in new health credits to make private health insurance more affordable for Americans who do not have employer-subsidized insurance.
Extending availability of SCHIP funds. The President's plan for HHS would strengthen SCHIP by making available to states an estimated $830 million in unused SCHIP funds that otherwise would return to the federal treasury at the end of fiscal year 2003.
Extending transitional medical assistance. The President's proposal provides $400 million in fiscal year 2004 and $2.4 billion over five years to continue funding Medicaid for families in transition from welfare to work.
Helping displaced workers retain health insurance. The Bush Administration will implement a tax credit to help workers who lose their jobs due to international trade so that they can obtain health insurance coverage. Eligible individuals will be able to receive a tax credit of 65 percent toward their cost of health insurance.
Encouraging qualified high-risk insurance pools. The President's fiscal year 2004 budget continues a HHS program to help states create qualified high-risk pools that will provide health coverage to individuals who otherwise would have difficulty obtaining coverage because of their health status.
Expanding and extending Medical Savings Accounts. The President's budget plan would make Medical Savings Accounts (MSAs) a permanent option for Americans who have high-deductible, "catastrophic" health coverage.
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Welfare reform working, report says
HHS Secretary Tommy G. Thompson announced the release of the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) Fifth Annual Report to Congress.
"This report demonstrates once again that welfare reform in America is helping people go to work and build better lives for themselves and their families," Secretary Thompson said. "We must not turn our back on the opportunity to move beyond the existing program and help millions of Americans begin or continue to climb the career ladder. We are committed to improving upon this highly successful program so it continues to help families complete the transition from the dependence upon a welfare check to the independence of a paycheck."
The annual report shows that since TANF's enactment, there have been dramatic increases in employment of current and former welfare recipients. Earnings for welfare recipients remaining on the rolls have increased, as have earnings for female-headed households. Child poverty rates are at their lowest levels in decades.
By the end of fiscal year 2001, states reported spending 92 percent of the nearly $81 billion in federal TANF funds distributed to them since the inception of the program. Of the total funds provided, 76 percent was expended directly through the state TANF programs, 10 percent was transferred to the Child Care and Development Fund and 6 percent was transferred to the Social Services Block Grant.
The employment rate of current and former TANF recipients increased significantly since TANF was enacted, but has leveled in recent years and declined slightly between fiscal year 2000 and fiscal year 2001. In addition, the percent of adults for whom no hours of participation are reported has remained nearly 60 percent over the past three years. About 83 percent of recipients who were working in fiscal year 2001 were in paid employment. The remaining recipients were in work experience, community service and subsidized employment.
State-reported data for welfare recipients show that the average monthly earnings of those employed increased from $466 per month in fiscal year 1996 to $686 in fiscal year 2001, a 49 percent increase.
Between 1996 and 2001, the overall child poverty rate dropped 20 percent. In that same time period, the African American child poverty rate dropped from 39.9 percent to 30.2 percent, the lowest rate on record; the Hispanic child poverty rate dropped from 40.3 percent to 28.0 percent, the largest five-year drop on record. In married two-parent families (in 2000), about one child in 12 (or 8 percent) was poor, while about 39 percent of the children living in a female-headed, single-parent family were poor.
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NHLBI Study Finds Possible New Indicator of Heart Disease Risk
Levels of a type of adult stem cell in the bloodstream may indicate a person's risk of developing cardiovascular disease, according to a study supported by the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (NHLBI), part of the National Institutes of Health in Bethesda, MD.
The study looked at the blood level of endothelial progenitor cells, which are made in the bone marrow and may help the body repair damage to blood vessels. Scientists from NHLBI and Emory University Hospital in Atlanta, GA, found that cardiovascular disease risk was higher in persons with fewer endothelial progenitor cells. The cells of those at higher risk also aged faster than those at lower risk. Additionally, the study found that blood vessels were much less likely to dilate and relax appropriately in persons with low levels of the cells.
"Past research on cardiovascular disease has often focused on what causes the damage to the blood vessels," said Dr. Toren Finkel, chief of NHLBI's Cardiology Branch and coauthor of the study. "We looked at the other part of the equation: How does the body repair damaged blood vessels? What does that tell us about the cause of the disease?
"We believe that these endothelial progenitor cells patch damaged sites in blood vessel walls," Finkel said. "When the cells start to run out, cardiovascular disease worsens. We don't yet know what causes their depletion but it may be related to the fact that the risk of cardiovascular disease increases as people age. For instance, the cells may be used up repairing damage done by other risk factors or those risk factors could directly affect the survival of the endothelial cells themselves.
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Last updated 14 February 2003
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