Department Of Health And Human Services | featured news

The emergency contraceptive Plan B will not be made available over-the-counter to younger teens, the Food and Drug Administration announced today, exposing a rift between the agency and the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.

Raymond Johnson was due for some good news. Earlier this month, he was denied Medicaid coverage after being diagnosed with breast cancer. But he just got the call he was waiting for: South Carolina’s Department of Health and Human Services is granting him coverage, after all.

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services announced new guidelines in Washington Monday requiring health insurance plans beginning on or after August 1, 2012 to cover several women's preventive services, including birth control and voluntary sterilization.

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency are recommending changing for the first time in nearly 50 years the amount of fluoride allowed in drinking water because of an increase in fluorosis -- a condition that causes spotting and streaking on children's teeth.

The federal government unveiled new proposed regulations Wednesday mandating "bolder health warnings" on cigarette advertisements and packages, according to a news release from the Department of Health and Human Services.

Department of Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius has called on health insurer WellPoint to stop dropping coverage for patients recently diagnosed with breast cancer, calling the practice "deplorable."

Government economic forecasters say President Obama's healthcare overhaul will increase the nation's healthcare tab instead of bringing costs down. The report by economic experts at the Department of Health and Human Services, released late Thursday, says the healthcare remake will achieve Obama's aim of expanding coverage.

President Barack Obama's push to revamp the costly and inefficient U.S. healthcare system was facing delay even before Tom Daschle, who was chosen to head the initiative, withdrew his nomination as health secretary.

Health Secretary-designate Tom Daschle apologized in a letter released on Monday for errors that prompted him to pay $140,000 in back taxes, saying he was "deeply embarrassed" and would answer any questions a Senate panel had about them.

The White House tried to explain how Tom Daschle’s failure to pay $128,000 in taxes had been overlooked.