- An estimated 58 million women with private insurance currently benefit from these preventive service provisions, in addition to 37 million children with access to free preventive care. [Assistant Secretary for Planning and Evaluation]
- MIECHV (HRSA) provided over 7.1 million home visits between 2012 and 2020, with over 925,000 home visits provided in fiscal year 2020 alone.
- Since programs started implementing services, Tribal MIECHV (ACF) recipients have provided over 142,500 home visits, including virtual visits during the COVID-19 pandemic, and served over 3,500 caregivers and children during FY 2021.
Health of Older Adults and People with Disabilities
- Extended protection for Americans with disabilities from being discriminated against by health insurance plans on the basis of medical history or pre-existing conditions; and eliminated lifetime dollar caps on essential health benefits. As a result, many more people with disabilities are able to access quality health insurance that meets their needs, and they will no longer lose coverage based on their health status when they need it most. Lowered the share of adults with disabilities under age 65 who were uninsured for a full year by nearly half. [ASPE]
- Created the Center for Medicare & Medicaid Innovation (CMS Innovation Center) to develop and test new health care payment and service delivery models. This was intended to improve patient care, lower costs, and promote patient-centered practices in Medicare, Medicaid, and the Children's Health Insurance Program (CHIP). [CMS]
- Brought community living options to more people through Medicaid options such as Community First Choice, the Balancing Incentive Program and Money Follows the Person. [CMS]
- Provided $50 million to support further development of the Aging and Disability Resource Center (ADRC) Program, which works to assist individuals in critical pathways, defined as times or places where people make important decisions about long-term care. [ACL]
- Supported 33 states with grant funding to plan and implement a “No Wrong Door System,” a partnership between the ACL, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS), and the Veterans Health Administration, to make it easier for consumers to learn about and access Long Term Supports and Services (LTSS). [ACL]
- Closed the Part D prescription drug “donut hole” to make drugs more affordable for older adults.
- Reformed payments in traditional Medicare through payment updates to hospitals, skilled nursing facilities, and certain other providers, partly to account for economy-wide productivity improvements and reduced excessive payments to home health agencies and inpatient rehabilitation facilities. [CMS]
- Created the largest value-based purchasing program in the country, the Medicare Shared Savings Program (SSP); there are now 483 SSP Accountable Care Organizations (groups of doctors, hospitals, and other health care providers) that serve over 11 million Medicare beneficiaries, with over 525,000 participating clinicians. [CMS]
Coverage Gains & Patient Protections
- Produced historic gains in health insurance, reducing the number of uninsured Americans by approximately 20 million, and extending Marketplace insurance or Medicaid expansion coverage to more than 31 million people as of early 2021. [ASPE]
- This year, the Biden-Harris Administration announced a record-breaking 14.5 million people have signed up for 2022 health care coverage through the Marketplaces during the historic Marketplace Open Enrollment Period (OEP) from November 1, 2021 through January 15, 2022. [CMS]
Mental Health and Substance Use Support
- Established the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) Office of Behavioral Health Equity, which coordinates efforts to reduce disparities in mental and substance use disorders across populations. [SAMHSA]
- Extended parity protections to individual health insurance, including qualified health plans offered through exchanges and required coverage of mental and substance use disorder treatment services as a category of Essential Health Benefits, guaranteeing coverage for consumers enrolled in individual and small group market plans. This impacted approximately 30.4 million enrollees in insurance plans and helped reduce stigma while supporting treatment for vulnerable populations. [CMS]
- Created the Health Home State Plan Option to provide comprehensive care coordination for individuals with chronic conditions, including mental and substance use disorders. [CMS]
- Contributed millions of dollars to the Garrett Lee Smith State and Tribal Program, GLS Campus Suicide Prevention, and Primary Behavioral Health Care Integration grant programs. This successful program has trained more than 143,000 individuals who work in the mental health field or a related profession and more than 300,000 people in communities across the country on suicide prevention and mental health promotion. It has reached approximately 55 million people with mental health awareness messaging. [SAMHSA]
Health of LGBTQI+ and Communities of Color
- Established the Offices of Minority Health within six agencies at HHS: Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ); Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC); Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS); Food and Drug Administration (FDA); Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA); and Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA). [HHS]
- Elevated the NIH National Institute on Minority Health and Health Disparities to lead and coordinate activities that improve the health of racial and ethnic minority populations and reduce health disparities. [NIH]
- Prohibited discrimination on the basis of race, color, national origin, age, disability, or sex (including pregnancy, sexual orientation, and gender identity), in covered health programs or activities, including health insurance. [OCR]
- Reduced the uninsured rate among LGBTI+ populations by nearly half since 2010. [ASPE]
- Provided coverage to approximately 4 million Latinos and 3 million Black Americans since 2010 when the ACA was enacted. [ASPE]
- Strengthened the safety net of HIV care and treatment services to people with HIV served by HRSA’s Ryan White HIV/AIDS Program by helping cities, states, counties, and locally-based community organizations stretch their resources to build a comprehensive system of HIV care. [HRSA]
- Established the Health Profession Opportunity Grant, a unique training and employment program that enrolled low-income individuals from historically underserved and marginalized communities in high demand health care training programs, thus providing career pathways for low-income individuals to assist families in becoming self-sufficient. [ACF]
This communication was printed, published, or produced and disseminated at U.S. taxpayer expense.
Note: All HHS press releases, fact sheets and other news materials are available at https://www.hhs.gov/news.
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