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February 20, 2009
President Selects Top Rural Health Care Advocate to Oversee Key HHS Agency
Dr. Mary Wakefield will be the Next Administrator of Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA).

February 18, 2009
CVS Pays $2.25 Million and Toughens Practices to Settle HIPAA Privacy Case
CVS agreed to pay a $2.25 million resolution amount and implement a robust corrective action plan that requires Privacy Rule compliant policies and procedures for safeguarding patient information.

February 12, 2009
Statement from the Department of Health and Human Services Regarding the Decisions of the U.S. Court of Federal Claims in the Omnibus Autism Proceeding
The medical and scientific communities have carefully reviewed the evidence concerning the vaccine-autism theory and have found no association between vaccines and autism.

February 02, 2009
Social Media Resources Tapped to Deliver Consumers Information on Salmonella Typhimurium Outbreak
The power of social media is being tapped by the Department of Health and Human Services, its Food and Drug Administration, and its Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to spread important information about the recall of certain peanut butter and peanut-containing products that are associated with the recent Salmonella Typhimurium outbreaks.

January 26, 2009
SCHIP Provides Health Coverage to 7.4 Million Children in 2008
Some 7.4 million children were enrolled in the State Children’s Health Insurance Program (SCHIP) in 2008 -- a four percent increase over the previous year, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services announced today. The announcement comes as Congress is debating reauthorization of SCHIP, which is projected to expand coverage to an additional four million children.

January 16, 2009
HHS Secretary Declares Public Health Emergency for the District of Columbia for the 56th Presidential Inaugural
HHS Secretary Mike Leavitt today declared a public health emergency related to the 56th presidential inaugural. The action allows the department to take actions, if needed, to ensure items and services are available to beneficiaries of Medicare, Medicaid and the State Children’s Health Insurance program, known as SCHIP.

January 15, 2009
HHS Awards $487 Million Contract to Build First U.S. Manufacturing Facility for Cell-Based Influenza Vaccine
The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) today announced a $487 million multiple year contract with Novartis Vaccines and Diagnostics, Inc., to build the first U.S. facility to manufacture cell-based vaccine for seasonal and pandemic flu. Because cell-based influenza vaccine can be made faster and in greater quantities than traditional vaccine, the new facility is expected to increase the U.S. capacity to make pandemic influenza vaccine by at least 25 percent.

January 15, 2009
HHS Issues Final ICD-10 Code Sets and Updated Electronic Transaction Standards Rules
The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) today released two final rules that will facilitate the United States’ ongoing transition to an electronic health care environment through adoption of a new generation of diagnosis and procedure codes and updated standards for electronic health care and pharmacy transactions.

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