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

IN THIS ISSUE:
1) Secretary Thompson's public schedule for the week of February 24 - March 2
2) Administration addresses welfare reform with governors
3) Budget hearing
4) National Congress of American Indians honors Secretary Thompson
5) Denver listening session on Older Americans Act
6) Koplan to leave CDC
7) HHS WEEK IN REVIEW

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Administration addresses welfare reform with governors

Welfare issues will take center stage this week, as HHS Secretary Tommy G. Thompson meets with the nation's governors to promote the Administration's proposals to take reforms to the next level.

President Bush is expected this week to articulate more fully his plan for helping individuals become more self-sufficient and successful in the workforce.

As part of the National Governors' Association's winter meeting, the Secretary will participate in a roundtable discussion on this year's reauthorization of the Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunities Reconciliation Act.

One-on-one meetings with governors are also in the works.

"Welfare reform is the greatest social policy change of the last 60 years," Secretary Thompson said recently. "Millions of people have moved from lives of dependency on the system to lives of self-sufficiency. They've learned the dignity and pride that comes from self-sufficiency through work because of these sweeping reforms."

As the reform-pioneering governor of Wisconsin, Secretary Thompson headed the NGA in 1996, and joined with other state leaders in persuading Congress and the President to revamp welfare. Governors wanted flexibility for their states so they could craft innovative approaches to give people the skills to move into the workforce and develop greater self-sufficiency.

The Administration's reauthorization proposal retains flexibility while adding new components to encourage stronger, more stable families.

"Our reauthorization proposal embraces the needs of families by maintaining the program's overall funding and basic structure, while focusing increased efforts on building stronger families through work and job advancement and adding child well-being as an overarching goal of TANF," Thompson told the House Ways and Means Committee on February 6.

Since 1996, welfare dependency has plummeted. As of September 2001, the number of families receiving assistance, which represents the welfare caseload, was 2,103,000 -- down 52 percent -- and the number of individuals receiving assistance was 5,343,000 -- a 56 percent decrease. Child poverty rates are at their lowest level since 1978.

The fiscal year 2003 budget for HHS proposes:

• $16.5 billion each year for block grants to States and Tribes;
  
• $319 million a year to restore supplemental grants;
  
• $2 billion over five years for a more accessible Contingency Fund;
  
• $100 million a year for a research, demonstration and technical assistance initiative primarily to promote child well being through strengthening family formation and healthy marriages.

Budget hearing

HHS Secretary Tommy G. Thompson will present a thorough review of the department's fiscal year 2003 proposed budget when he testifies Thursday, Feb. 28th, to the House Budget Committee.

The hearing is scheduled for 10 a.m. in Room 210 of the Cannon House Office Building.

In testimony on Feb. 14th to the Senate Budget Committee, Secretary Thompson highlighted the President's plans to extending coverage to the uninsured, strengthen and modernize Medicare, and take welfare reform to the next level.

"The President's agenda is compassionate, financially sound and far-reaching," he told the Committee. "The President's investment in the health security of America is tremendous given the pressing needs for investment in national defense and homeland security."

The H-H-S budget furthers the work of preparing America for bioterrorism. In total, we're calling for $4.3 billion - an increase of 45 percent over the current fiscal year - to support a variety of critical activities to prevent, identify and respond to incidents of bioterrorism. We're building up our National Pharmaceutical Stockpile, increasing assistance to state and local governments, preparing the nation's hospitals and doing more to protect America's food supply.

In the President's budget, we've reduced the number of H-H-S personnel offices from 46 to four. We're realigning and consolidating throughout the Department, saving the equivalent of 700 full-time positions. And we've launched a regulatory reform initiative to reduce the paperwork burden on physicians and hospitals.

Our budget meets the President's commitment of doubling funding for the National Institutes of Health by 2003. It provides support for childhood development while delivering responsible management of H-H-S resources. And we provide $20 million for our new Healthy Communities Initiative, which will concentrate Department-wide expertise on the prevention of diabetes, asthma and obesity. Our plan confronts the challenges of today and tomorrow while enhancing the health of every citizen of our great country.

National Congress of American Indians honors Secretary Thompson

The National Congress of American Indians is honoring HHS Secretary Tommy G. Thompson for his active involvement with issues important to the tribes and Alaska Natives.

The award will be giving at the NCAI's Fourth Annual Leadership Awards Banquet in Washington on Tuesday, Feb. 26th, in conjunction with the organization's Executive Council winter meeting.

"You have distinguished yourself as a champion for Tribal sovereignty in these extremely challenging times with your outstanding national leadership and support with Tribal Consultation with the Department of Health and Human Services," wrote Tex G. Hall, president of the NCAI. "You also have recognized the many critical issues facing Indian Country."

Secretary Thompson recently revitalized HHS's Intradepartmental Council for Native American Affairs. Chaired by Commissioner of the Administration for Native Americans, the council brings together heads of HHS's operating and staff divisions to improve communication and coordination on agency programs that affect American Indians.

"We are one department, and can streamline internal coordination and communication to become more effective in addressing tribal issues," Secretary Thompson said in a satellite address to the NAIC's annual meeting in Spokane last February. "And we will listen to you. To accomplish our goals of improving the health of all Americans, we must remember to keep different cultural approaches in mind."

As part of his commitment to open lines of communication with tribes and Alaska natives, Secretary Thompson met last year with Denali Commission in Anchorage, and traveled to Sault Saint Marie Tribe in Michigan, the Lac Du Flambeau Tribe and Red Cliff Band of Chippewa in Wisconsin, and the Oglala Sioux Tribe in South Dakota.

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Denver listening session on Older Americans Act

HHS Secretary Tommy G. Thompson will travel to Denver Friday, March 1, to lead an Administration on Aging (AoA) "listening session" on new Older Americans Act regulations.

The session will be held at the Volunteers of America Bob Magness Administrative Service Center at 2660 Larimer Street, starting at 10 a.m.

Congress reauthorized the Older Americans Act in November of 2000, and AoA is gathering public input as it develops regulations to implement the legislation. A top priority in the process is finding ways to encourage more accessible and flexible services for older consumers and their families.

Assistant Secretary for Aging Josefina G. Carbonell led previous listening sessions in Jackson, Miss., Kansas City, Washington, D.C., and Phoenix. An August session in the nation's Capital emphasized American Indian perspectives.

One focus in Denver will be the new National Family Caregiver Support Program. Created with the reauthorization of the Older Americans Act, the program offers help so family members can provide care for the elderly at home.

On February 7th, the Secretary announced $128 million in grants to support state-run programs that provide critical support, including home and community-based services, so families can maintain their caregiver roles.

"With courage, compassion and dedication, family caregivers can help the elderly and people with disabilities to stay in a loving environment, and caregivers often sacrifice their own physical, mental and financial health to do so," Secretary Thompson said. "These grants will fund community services and resources that will ease the burden on hundreds of thousands of family caregivers nationwide.

Koplan to leave CDC

Dr. Jeffrey Koplan will step down as director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention at the end of March.

Koplan, whose career at the CDC began 26 years ago, has headed the HHS agency since 1998. He told his Atlanta-based staff of his decision on Thursday, Feb. 21.

HHS Secretary Tommy G. Thompson called Koplan's departure, "a loss for the Department of Health and Human Services and our country."

"Throughout his career, Dr. Koplan has touched and improved the lives of millions of people worldwide," Thompson said. "He sets the standard for what it means to truly be a public servant."

The Secretary praised Koplan's "dedicated leadership" during last year's anthrax attacks and in preparing the nation against bioterrorism.
During his tenure at the CDC, the agency also led anti-obesity initiatives, helped raise national immunization levels, and worked to prevent chronic diseases.

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HHS WEEK IN REVIEW

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Mammography can save lives

Mammography screenings are an important tool for early detection of breast cancer, HHS Secretary Tommy Thompson and top health experts reaffirmed at a new conference Thursday, Feb. 21.

"Mammography is not a perfect tool," Secretary Thompson, secretary of health and human services, said Thursday. "But mammography is an important and effective early-detection tool that does help save lives. We want women to understand this point very clearly."

The news conference focused on a new recommendation by the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force, an independent panel of experts. In 1998, Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality re-convened the Task Force to review the value of a broad range of clinical preventive services, including mammography.

The new recommendation calls for routine mammography every one to two years for women 40 and older. This is an update from the Task Force's 1996 recommendation on mammography, which recommended routine screening for women age 50-69.

The Secretary was joined by Dr. Janet Allan, vice chair of the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force and dean of the School of Nursing at the University of Texas Health Science Center; and Dr. Peter Greenwald, the head of the Division of Cancer Prevention at the National Cancer Institute.
The NCI is active in new research on early detection technology, including digital mammography.

"While developing technology certainly holds the promise for new detection and treatment methods, mammography remains a strong and important tool in the early detection of breast cancer," Thompson said. "The early detection of breast cancer can save lives."

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Last updated 25 February 2002
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