“Department of Health and Human Services” on The Daily Caller

Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Kathleen Sebelius backed a chief Moody’s economist in a speech before a U.S. Commerce Department conference Wednesday, saying that President Barack Obama’s jobs bill will “create almost 2 million badly needed jobs.” (more)

The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) has released new guidelines for employees dealing with reporters, and some journalists are none too pleased about it. (more)

In the thick of the debate over President Barack Obama’s health care reform bill, administration officials ignored warnings that one of its most controversial provisions was financially unsustainable and could leave taxpayers on the hook for billions of dollars. (more)

It’s the second time the agency has issued an outright rejection to a waiver from the healthcare law. (more)

Pro-lifers are horrified at the announcement Monday that the Obama administration has approved a recommendation from the Institute of Medicine (IOM) to guarantee full health insurance coverage for birth control, including the so-called “morning-after” pill, under the Affordable Care Act. (more)

WASHINGTON (AP) — Health insurance plans must cover birth control as preventive care for women, with no copays, the Obama administration said Monday in a decision with far-reaching implications for health care as well as social mores. (more)

It’s quite unusual to open an envelope from the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) and find two $1 dollar bills, especially when it’s addressed to you (or “current occupant”). But this year, thousands of Americans are sharing this experience with me. (more)

When Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius visits Frager’s Hardware Store near the U.S. Capitol Monday, where she is expected to release the much-anticipated proposed regulations on the health insurance exchanges, she’ll face many skeptics. (more)

The Obama administration, which touts itself as the “most transparent” in American history, was dealt another blow on Tuesday with the release of a Government Accountability Office (GAO) analysis of the Obamacare waiver decision-making process. (more)

The Daily Caller has learned the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) never had the authority to issue waivers from Obamacare’s annual limit requirements. (more)

The Daily Caller has learned that the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) rate review rules, which it finalized on Thursday, exempt “Medigap” policy providers, like the American Association of Retired Persons (AARP), from oversight when such providers increase payment rates for their supplemental insurance plans. (more)

Of the 204 new Obamacare waivers President Barack Obama’s administration approved in April, 38 are for fancy eateries, hip nightclubs and decadent hotels in House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi’s Northern California district. (more)

On Monday, the American Public Health Association (APHA), along with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), released a public health guidebook on climate change. According to the guidebook, climate change could lead to numerous adverse health effects like heat stress and the spread of infectious diseases. (more)

As Congress continues to battle over budget cuts, one House subcommittee took the first step toward defunding a slush fund of taxpayer money used for anti-obesity campaigns throughout the country. In a little-noticed hearing last Thursday, the House Energy and Commerce Committee’s Health Subcommittee voted out legislation that would repeal the Prevention and Public Health Fund that was created in the health care reform bill. (more)

In an effort to shed more light on the Obama administration’s allocation of Affordable Health Care law waivers, California Republican Rep. Darrell Issa and Nevada Republican Senator John Ensign have introduced legislation to require greater transparency in the waiver application process. (more)

On the anniversary of President Barack Obama signing his prized health care overhaul legislation into law, The Daily Caller is providing a breakdown of what Obamacare provisions have already been instituted. The day Obamacare hit the books one year ago, 150 new regulations immediately went into effect. Since then, 125 more regulations have gone into effect. (more)

Will the Department of Health and Human Services’ current “two-waiver-a-day” rule keep Obamacare away, effectively waivering the law obsolete? (more)

I’m sure that many of you have driven a car for so many years that eventually the engine gives out. You can put in a new muffler or a new radiator. You can replace the transmission and put on a new coat of paint. But if the engine has failed, then that car won’t run again until you put in a new engine. (more)

1.) Two Democrats announce plans to overreact to Tucson massacre — A little more than 24 hours after a lone gunman attempted to assassinate Democratic Rep. Gabrielle Giffords, killing and wounding more than a dozen others in the process, two Democratic representatives announced their plans to further restrict Americans’ freedom. Rep. Carolyn McCarthy, whose husband was killed and her son injured in a subway car shooting, wants to renew a Clinton-era ban on large ammunition magazines, as well as investigate the type of ammunition used by deranged (and possibly schizophrenic) shooter Jared L. Loughner. “Looking at the number of clips that he was able to fire, from 15 to 20 rounds, we need to look at those and say, ‘Why should an average citizen be able to have that?’” McCarthy told Newsday. “If you have a semiautomatic and can’t take someone down with a standard clip, you shouldn’t have one.” Meanwhile, Democratic Rep. Robert Brady would like to make it “a federal crime for a person to use language or symbols that could be perceived as threatening or inciting violence against a Member of Congress or federal official.” When asked by CNN if he honestly expected his colleagues to join him in defecating on the First Amendment, Brady replied, “Why would you be against it?” (more)

Americans have a love/hate affair with health insurers. We like that they provide coverage for expensive things like hospitalization and surgeries, but get annoyed when they deny coverage for medications or other services we think should be covered. We are sometimes annoyed with the high compensation level of their executives, but we like the fact that some 80+ percent of us have coverage through our employer, so we don’t have to spend time shopping in the individual market to make sense of complicated policies. Of course, getting coverage through group plans at work naturally limits the number of available options, so we tend to bitch and moan about this as well. Hence, our attitudes about health insurance companies are often contradictory and ambivalent. (more)