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HHS WEEKLY REPORT
18-24 August 2002

THIS ISSUE AVAILABLE ONLINE WITH EXPANDED INFORMATION AND PHOTOS AT:
www.hhs.gov/news/newsletter/weekly

IN THIS ISSUE:
1) HHS holds Community Health Centers Week
2) Nevada to extend Medicaid benefits for breast, cervical cancer
3) Secretary Thompson works to increase access to care

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HHS holds Community Health Centers Week

HHS Secretary Tommy G. Thompson will visit West Virginia this week to celebrate Community Health Centers Week. He will tour the Cabin Creek Community Health Center in Dawes, West Virginia.

"Community health centers play a valuable role in the public health system in America, from our biggest cities to our smallest rural communities. Community health centers care for thousands of people every day and are a cornerstone of our nation's health care system," Secretary Thompson said.

There are roughly 39 million Americans who don't have health insurance. To help these Americans secure the care they need, HHS increased funding last year for community health centers by $165 million.

The President's budget for 2003 seeks $1.5 billion to support 1,200 communities with new or expanded health centers by 2006. The President's plan would support 170 new and expanded health centers and provide services to one million additional patients. This is all part of the long-term plan to double the number of patients served by our community health center system.

The Bush Administration also seeks to ensure that the nation's community health centers have excellent health care workers through the National Health Service Corps. Funding for the service corps has been increased by $44 million to attract bright young professionals to the community health centers.

Community health centers, tax credits and waivers are the centerpieces of the Administration's efforts to bring quality health care to all Americans.

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Nevada to extend Medicaid benefits for breast, cervical cancer

HHS has approved Nevada's request to extend Medicaid benefits to uninsured women who are diagnosed with breast or cervical cancer through a federal screening program.

Nevada is the most recent state to take advantage of the federal Breast and Cervical Cancer Prevention and Treatment Act of 2000, which allowed states to expand Medicaid coverage to these women who otherwise would not have health coverage. To date, HHS has approved this expanded Medicaid eligibility in 44 states.

"This expansion offers help, hope and health care to women in Nevada who otherwise would receive only a diagnosis that may sound like a death sentence," Secretary Thompson said. "With this change, women who had no health coverage can now get immediate access to lifesaving treatment through Medicaid."

Under the 2000 law, states can extend the full Medicaid benefit package to women who were screened through the National Breast and Cervical Cancer Early Detection Program run by HHS's Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and found to need treatment for breast or cervical cancer. Since the CDC program began in 1990, more than 3 million breast and cervical cancer screening tests have been provided to more than 1.8 million women.

To qualify for Medicaid coverage under the program, women must be under age 65, not eligible for Medicaid and without creditable health care coverage. Under the law, these women may now be eligible for Medicaid benefits for the duration of their cancer treatment. States that choose to extend Medicaid benefits to women under this new option will receive a federal match of up to 85 percent of the costs of treatment.

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Secretary Thompson works to increase access to care

Secretary Thompson has urged the nation's governors to continue to make efforts to overcome the institutional bias in Medicaid programs and provide benefits outside of nursing homes to Americans with disabilities. Secretary Thompson noted that states already have many affordable community-based options for serving people with disabilities, and he pointed to a new Web site identifying promising practices.

"The President's New Freedom Initiative builds on our partnership to assure Medicaid eligible individuals with disabilities are served in the most appropriate setting according to their own needs and preferences. We believe there is a tremendous opportunity to serve people who meet nursing facility levels of care in their own homes or other community residential settings without increasing costs," Secretary Thompson wrote in a letter to the governors

A number of states have already developed and implemented programs that serve individuals in community settings rather than institutions including:

HHS has recently announced a new waiver template, "Independence Plus," designed to help states develop consumer directed services. The Center for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) has also established a Web Site to help states share "promising practices" of innovative programs that states have adopted to strengthen their community long-term support systems. These promising practices are targeted towards diverse populations and usually supported by a combination of funding mechanisms, such as the Medicaid Home and Community Based Services (HCBS) waiver program, regular Medicaid state plan options, programs funded by other federal agencies, and state and local resources.

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Last updated 16 August 2002
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