HHS WEEKLY REPORT
August 22 - 28, 2004
THIS ISSUE AVAILABLE ONLINE WITH EXPANDED INFORMATION AND PHOTOS AT:
http://www.hhs.gov/news/newsletter/weekly
IN THIS ISSUE:
1)
HHS Announces Immediate Aid to Florida to Help Provide Medical and Human Services After Hurricane Charley
2) PREVENTION: Add Hepatitis B Vaccination to Your Back to School List
3) SCIENCE IN THE NEWS: Combination Treatment Most Effective in Adolescents with Depression
4) CMS Encourages States to Give Medicaid Beneficiaries More Control Over the Long-term Care Services They Receive
5) Secretary Thompson's Public Schedule
HHS Announces Immediate Aid to Florida to Help Provide Medical and Human Services After Hurricane Charley
HHS Secretary Tommy G. Thompson announced Tuesday, August 17 that the Department of Health and Human Services is making more than $11 million available to support Florida families in the wake of Hurricane Charley. Secretary Thompson and Homeland Security Secretary Tom Ridge visited Florida to assess the health and other needs resulting from the storm.
The initial funding includes up to $10 million in emergency one-time grants to Head Start and Early Head Start centers; $1 million to assist DeSoto County Hospital and Osceola Regional Hospital; and a $200,000 emergency grant to help Florida officials provide meals, shelter and services to elderly residents affected by Hurricane Charley.
Additionally, Secretary Thompson deployed emergency and mental health personnel to Florida to support state and local efforts.
"We are determined to provide Florida families the tools they need to recover from Hurricane Charley," Secretary Thompson said. "We are working around the clock to identify health and human services needs, and we'll be here as long as the people of Florida need us."
To date, HHS is providing the following assistance in the wake of Hurricane Charley:
The $10 million for Head Start and Early Head Start grantees, administered by the Administration on Children and Families (ACF), will assist in the repair, renovation, reconstruction or replacement of facilities, supplies and equipment damaged as a result of Hurricane Charley. In addition, ACF will waive up to $27 million in cost sharing for grantees, so that every Head Start or Early Head Start in the hurricane's strike area can receive contributions to return them to operation.
The initial $1 million mission assignment will provide 49 specialty care nurses, four primary care providers, four pharmacists, and 11 radiology and laboratory technicians to two hospitals greatest hit by the impact of the storm. These personnel will come from the U.S. Public Health Service Commissioned Corps, the Veterans Administration, the Department of Defense, and the National Disaster Medical System. This mission assignment may be extended as the needed, but this support will allow the hospitals to begin their work soon.
The $200,000 grant, administered by HHS' Administration on Aging (AoA), is in addition to $83 million awarded to Florida in fiscal year 2004 for elderly programs and will be used by state officials to fill any gaps in providing emergency care caused by the hurricane.
AoA also is supplying meals and water to seniors who have been affected by Hurricane Charley. In addition, AoA is sending a liaison to help federal workers coordinate assistance and services to elderly individuals. Of the 20 counties in the United States that have the highest percentage of elderly individuals, nine of those counties were affected by this hurricane.
The Secretary's Emergency Response Team has been in Florida since Saturday. The team is working closely with Florida state officials, FEMA and other federal agencies. They are closely monitoring health and human services needs and quickly making assistance available as the state officials make requests.
The Secretary deployed 10 nurses and 10 mental health providers from the Secretary's Commissioned Corps Reserve Force to assist the Red Cross in providing nursing and mental health services to people who have lost their homes.
Federal medical assistance includes Disaster Medical Assistance Teams. Three of the Florida-based teams are supporting hospitals with their emergency room operations. Additional medical teams are on standby and ready to move in and assist as needed.
HHS' Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) is making available mental health professionals specifically trained to assist individuals who have been affected by disasters. Studies indicate that lingering affects may occur in people and families long after the physical damage has been fixed.
HHS' Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) is working closely with the Medicare contractors -- fiscal intermediaries and carriers -- and managed care plans to ensure that health care services continue to be provided as needed without any concerns for payment. Particular attention is being paid to ambulance providers who need to transport Medicare beneficiaries to safer facilities and to managed care plans who may need to approve requests for out of network services.
The HHS Secretary’s Operations Center is operating 24 hours a day and is in constant communication with state and local emergency management operations, as well as other federal departments, including Homeland Security and the White House.
HHS' Food and Drug Administration (FDA) issued guidance outlining what residents should do with food in the event that power is lost. In addition, FDA investigators will work with the state to identify any FDA regulated establishments that may have been damaged by the storm and therefore, require additional inspections or regulatory follow up. FDA is also assessing the adequacy of the blood supply for the affected areas and hospitals. More information can be found at http://www.fda.gov/bbs/topics/news/2004/NEW01104.html.
HHS' Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) is assisting in an epidemiological assessment of the southwest Florida Disaster Region and continues to release safety information to residents. CDC issued a press release on Aug. 13, to help people protect themselves after a storm. More information can be found at http://www.cdc.gov/od/oc/media/pressrel/r040813.htm.
HHS' Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) is working with health centers in neighboring counties to send staff in to assist health centers in hardest hit areas, especially to address surge needs of special populations including migrants and the elderly. Staff members from health center sites that are still closed due to the hurricane are canvassing the area, especially in Hardee County, to help identify displaced migrant workers and get them into care.
"The people of Florida should know that the full resources of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services stand at the ready to help them through this challenging time," Secretary Thompson said. "We already have doctors, nurses, and disaster response specialists on site to help those in need. As time goes on, we will continue to send additional people and resources to help rebuild those lives and communities affected."
For comprehensive health information, visit http://www.hhs.gov/disasters/hurricane.html.
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PREVENTION
Add Hepatitis B Vaccination to Your Back to School List
What is Hepatitis B?
Hepatitis B is a disease of the liver caused by the hepatitis B virus. Hepatitis B can affect anyone, and each year in the United States more than 200,000 people of all ages become infected. This means that, in the United States, 1 individual out of 20 will become infected in their lifetime. Some persons who become infected never get rid of the virus and are at risk of developing cirrhosis (scarring) of the liver and liver cancer. Each year, about 5,000 persons will die as a result of this chronic (long-lasting) disease.
A vaccine is available to prevent hepatitis B, and it is strongly endorsed by medical and public health experts as safe and effective. All children aged 0-18 years should receive the hepatitis B vaccine series. Many states require hepatitis B vaccination before school entry. Visit the Immunization Action Coalition website which features a list of hepatitis B vaccination requirements by state.
Vaccines for Children (VFC), a federal vaccination program, provides routinely recommended vaccines free of charge to children up through 18 years of age. One of the most effective ways to protect the health and well being of your loved ones is to be sure they receive the vaccines they need. Find out if your child is eligible to use VFC funds. Children might also need hepatitis A vaccine.
Hepatitis A vaccine is recommended for children aged 2 years and older in communities where there were consistently increased rates of hepatitis A during a baseline period (1987-1997). Check with your health care professional to see if you reside in any of these areas.
Remember, vaccination is a very important part of your child's health care. Be sure to add hepatitis B vaccination and possibly hepatitis A vaccination to your "Back to School" list!
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SCIENCE IN THE NEWS
Combination Treatment Most Effective in Adolescents with Depression
A clinical trial of 439 adolescents with major depression has found a combination of medication and psychotherapy to be the most effective treatment. Funded by the NIH’s National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH), the study compared cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT) with fluoxetine, currently the only antidepressant approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration for use in children and adolescents. John March, M.D., Duke University, and colleagues, report on findings of the multi-site trial in the August 18, 2004, Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA).
The results of the first 12 weeks of the Treatment for Adolescents with Depression Study (TADS), conducted at 13 sites nationwide, show that 71 percent responded to the combination of fluoxetine and CBT. The other three treatment groups, of participants between the ages of 12 and 17, also showed improvement, with a 60.6 percent response to fluoxetine-only treatment, and 43.2 percent response from those receiving only CBT. The response rate was 34.8 percent for a group that received a placebo. The difference in response rates for the latter two treatment groups was not statistically significant.
The $17 million study is the first large, federally funded study using an antidepressant medication to treat adolescents suffering with moderate to severe depression. TADS was conducted between the spring of the year 2000 and the summer of 2003.
Clinically significant suicidal thinking, which was present in 29 percent of the volunteers at the beginning of the study, improved significantly in all four treatment groups, with those receiving medication and therapy showing the greatest reduction.
For more information on TADS, visit www.nimh.nih.gov/healthinformation/tads.cfm.
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CMS Encourages States to Give Medicaid Beneficiaries More Control Over the Long-term Care Services They Receive
More states than ever are re-directing Medicaid funds to keep more people out of institutions and living in their own communities and homes, and there are many approaches that states can use to accomplish this, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) said Tuesday, August 17 in a letter to state Medicaid directors.
"There is growing evidence that states can enable more people to live in the community by giving the elderly and people with disabilities more control over how they get the Medicaid services they need," CMS Administrator Mark B. McClellan, M.D., Ph.D. said. "Because the concept of money following the person's own preferences improves satisfaction and may reduce Medicaid costs too, we intend to keep taking steps to remove barriers, real or perceived."
The Medicaid program, by law, favors institutional care for elderly and disabled individuals who needed help with activities of daily living. However, only paying for institutional care means that Medicaid beneficiaries would not have access to modern options for living in the community.
President Bush has taken many steps to encourage states to provide assistance in the home or in a community-based setting, including the 2001 New Freedom Initiative and the 2002 Independence Plus Medicaid waiver program. As part of his ongoing commitment under the New Freedom Initiative, President Bush proposed legislation in his 2005 federal budget that would temporarily allow states more flexibility in their Medicaid payment systems without having to seek waivers from CMS. Included in those changes was a proposal called "Money Follows the Individual" that would further promote home and community based care as an alternative to institutionalization. President Bush has authorized $1.75 billion in funding for this initiative between the years 2005-2009.
In a letter to state Medicaid directors, CMS is advising states about what actions they can currently take while Congress reviews the necessary changes in the law. The letter to the Medicaid directors addresses several areas of confusion that may be impeding state efforts to rebalance their long-term care support systems, including: Home and Community-based Services (HCBS) Waiver Capacity and Cost Neutrality, Backfilling of Nursing Home Beds and Self-Directed Models.
A copy of the full letter can be obtained at http://www.cms.hhs.gov/states/letters.
More information about the Money Follows the Person initiative is available at http://www.cms.hhs.gov/promisingpractices.
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SECRETARY THOMPSON’S PUBLIC SCHEDULE
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Last updated: August 234, 2004
United States Department of Health and Human Services
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