By using this site, you agree to the Privacy Policy and Terms of Use.
Accept
Health Works CollectiveHealth Works CollectiveHealth Works Collective
  • Health
    • Mental Health
    Health
    Healthcare organizations are operating on slimmer profit margins than ever. One report in August showed that they are even lower than the beginning of the…
    Show More
    Top News
    migraine home remedies and-devices
    The Best Home Remedies for Migraines
    June 5, 2025
    learn to recognize and treat yeast infections
    Most Commonly Asked Questions About Yeast Infections
    November 17, 2021
    Advanced lung cancer diagnosis systems used by doctors
    Advanced Lung Cancer Diagnosis Systems Used by Doctors
    March 6, 2022
    Latest News
    5 Steps to a Promising Career as a Healthcare Administrator
    July 31, 2025
    Why Custom Telemedicine Apps Outperform Off‑the‑Shelf Solutions
    July 20, 2025
    How Probate Planning Shapes the Future of Your Estate and Family Care
    July 17, 2025
    Beyond Nutrition: Everyday Foods That Support Whole-Body Health
    June 15, 2025
  • Policy and Law
    • Global Healthcare
    • Medical Ethics
    Policy and Law
    Get the latest updates about Insurance policies and Laws in the Healthcare industry for different geographical locations.
    Show More
    Top News
    Image
    Boomer Voice
    June 12, 2013
    The Anatomy of Health Insurance [Infographic]
    April 19, 2012
    Patient Commando Features Canadian Women Changing Healthcare
    August 23, 2013
    Latest News
    How IT and Marketing Teams Can Collaborate to Protect Patient Trust
    July 17, 2025
    How Health Choices and Legal Actions Intersect After an Injury
    July 17, 2025
    How communities and healthcare providers can address slip and fall injuries with legal awareness
    July 17, 2025
    Let Your Lawyer Handle the Work Before You Pay Medical Costs
    July 6, 2025
  • Medical Innovations
  • News
  • Wellness
  • Tech
Search
© 2023 HealthWorks Collective. All Rights Reserved.
Reading: HHS Serves Up Prevention ‘Lite’
Share
Notification Show More
Font ResizerAa
Health Works CollectiveHealth Works Collective
Font ResizerAa
Search
Follow US
  • About
  • Contact
  • Privacy
© 2023 HealthWorks Collective. All Rights Reserved.
Health Works Collective > Business > HHS Serves Up Prevention ‘Lite’
BusinessPolicy & Law

HHS Serves Up Prevention ‘Lite’

GlennLaffel
GlennLaffel
Share
5 Min Read
SHARE

In the 1993 film Groundhog Day, Bill Murray plays a TV weatherman who finds himself trapped in a do-loop, covering the numbingly boring display of Punxutawney Phil, over and over again.

Forgive those of us who follow news from the Department of Health and Human Services for feeling like Bill Murray in that movie.

In the 1993 film Groundhog Day, Bill Murray plays a TV weatherman who finds himself trapped in a do-loop, covering the numbingly boring display of Punxutawney Phil, over and over again.

Forgive those of us who follow news from the Department of Health and Human Services for feeling like Bill Murray in that movie.

More Read

Give Your Facts a Facelift with Integrated Infographics
The Willing Provider Problem
Marketing Advantages Of Private – Non-Profit Partnerships
Top 10 Unfounded Health Scares of 2011
Why Pilot Programs are a Waste of Time and Money

Last month, HHS released an action plan to reduce racial disparities in health care. The plan called for new care models, more service delivery sites, a beefed-up health and human services workforce, and targeted efforts to reduce cardiovascular disease, childhood obesity and other scourges of minority populations.

Remarkably however, the plan came with no funding. Apparently, it was supposed to prompt agencies within HHS to assure that their own internal plans were aligned with the effort to reduce racial disparities. Worse yet, the plan involved only HHS itself. In effect, it assumed that a ‘medical model’ can solve racial disparities in health care. However as I argued here, these disparities aren’t about health, at all. They are about socioeconomic status, and HHS can’t fix that by itself.

Solving the problem of racial disparities in health care clearly requires input from many branches of government, including those involved with education, urban planning, transportation and more, in addition to HHS.

When it was all said and done, the HHS plan came off looking like a political stunt by the Obama administration. While the administration probably does want to fund a bona fide effort to reduce racial disparities, today’s incessant (and appropriate) focus on deficit reduction forced the administration to release a plan with no teeth. It isn’t going to make a dent in the problem.

“Oops!…I Did It Again.” Britney Spears

Now barely a month later, HHS has pulled the same stunt again! With considerable fanfare, it released something called a National Prevention Strategy. It too, is not funded.

To its credit, the National Prevention Strategy does involve multiple agencies. “If we want to achieve our goals and make a real change in the health of our nation, it can’t just be one department doing the work. If we’re going to serve healthier school lunches, we need to work with the departments of Agriculture and Education … If we want to create healthier homes, we need to work with the Department of Housing and Urban Development,” HHS Secretary Sebelius explained. 

US Surgeon General Regina Benjamin has been tasked to oversee the intra-departmental work, which will span 17 federal agencies.

The new effort isn’t breaking new ground. In many key ways, it’s indistinguishable from the venerable, federally sponsored Healthy People initiative. For example, it emphasizes traditional interventions like healthy diets, exercise, eliminating tobacco use and reducing drug and alcohol abuse.

It does set some unique targets though. For example, it contemplates reducing the amount of toxic pollutants released into the environment from 1.95 million tons to 1.75 million tons within 10-years. There are also targets for safe worksites, and so on. And ultimately it might help determine the way HHS uses the $15 billion prevention fund that was included in the Affordable Care Act.

But seriously. No funding?

“Many of things we’re doing and proposing to do, we can do already,” Benjamin responded in an interview.

The new program “provides a guide to align activities that we’re already doing… and new activities, [with] strategic directions and priorities. If we bring prevention into all those activities across the federal government with our partners, we can maximize the health value of our prevention efforts,” added CDC associate director Andrew Ryan.

thebestthings HHS Serves Up Prevention LiteI credit HHS for recognizing, as part of this new initiative, that good medical care alone isn’t enough to improve the health of our citizens. That’s an improvement over last month’s announcement concerning racial disparities. Still, the new initiative seems like wishful thinking to me. Another photo-op.

Maybe HHS should have asked Luther Vandross and Janet Jackson to participate in the press conference. They could have sung, The Best Things in Life are Free.

TAGGED:healthcare businesshealthcare policyHHS
Share This Article
Facebook Copy Link Print
Share

Stay Connected

1.5kFollowersLike
4.5kFollowersFollow
2.8kFollowersPin
136kSubscribersSubscribe

Latest News

5 Steps to a Promising Career as a Healthcare Administrator
5 Steps to a Promising Career as a Healthcare Administrator
Health
July 31, 2025
holistic dental
Holistic Dentist Services Are Natural and Safe
Dental health Specialties
July 28, 2025
botox certification
Help Improve People’s Skin Health Via Botox Certification
Skin Specialties
July 22, 2025
Telemedicine Apps
Why Custom Telemedicine Apps Outperform Off‑the‑Shelf Solutions
Health
July 20, 2025

You Might also Like

car accident lawsuit
Policy & Law

Let Your Lawyer Handle the Work Before You Pay Medical Costs

July 6, 2025
Health careMedical DevicesTechnology

How Tech And Medical Equipment Is Changing The Patient Approach

May 23, 2019
Image
Global HealthcareMobile Health

Mobile Health Around the Globe: Magpi Data Collection System Helps Thousands Worldwide

June 10, 2013
Medical EthicsPolicy & Law

You be the Judge

August 31, 2012
Subscribe
Subscribe to our newsletter to get our newest articles instantly!
Follow US
© 2008-2025 HealthWorks Collective. All Rights Reserved.
  • About
  • Contact
  • Privacy
Welcome Back!

Sign in to your account

Username or Email Address
Password

Lost your password?