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"We worked hard, and it paid off," said Secretary Shalala. "We are now checking out all systems, as well as our programs with the states and others, and it's business as normal at HHS."

In particular, Shalala said, some 50 million lines of computer code were tested as part of the Y2K remediation at HCFA, which administers the Medicare program and oversees the administration of Medicaid programs in each state. In a Dec. 28 press briefing, HHS officials had said the Medicare system was one which would have had failures if Y2K fixes had not been made. Medicare pays nearly a billion claims per year to more than a million health care providers. Almost 40 million older and disabled Americans are covered by Medicare.

HCFA reported today that its payment systems, including those belonging to contractors, are operating normally. Contractors have begun processing Medicare claims using the renovated year 2000 electronic systems. Under the law, Medicare electronic claims are paid within two weeks after submission. Claims being paid now are those submitted during the last weeks of 1999, and claims made by health providers for services delivered this week will be processed in mid-January.

In addition, HCFA reported that all states have made initial reports on their Medicaid computer systems, with no problems reported.

The CDC reported today that all of the agency's mission critical systems, information technology infrastructure, and buildings and facilities are operating normally with no Y2K disruptions. CDC also reported that as of mid-afternoon, each of the 20 states that had checked in reported a successful Y2K rollover for all essential public health services and systems. CDC anticipates that the remainder of the states and territories will conduct Y2K checks on their systems and report their findings to CDC by the end of the week.

Systems operated by CDC and others to conduct time-sensitive public health surveillance and detect outbreaks of infectious diseases also transitioned the millennium without incident. This includes the Public Health Laboratory Information System that links public health laboratories in States and territories with CDC, as well as the PulseNet system which links CDC and the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) with the States and the U.S. Department of Agriculture laboratories, enabling rapid comparisons of DNA-based analyses for certain food borne illnesses.

The 49 IHS and tribal hospitals reported in the early hours of Jan. 1 that all were operating normally, and they continued today without Y2K problems.

The IHS "Millennium Baby" was Todd Arthur, born Jan. 1 to Michelle Etsitty and Lester Arthur at 12:07 a.m. at the Gallup Indian Medical Center. Todd was also believed to be the first baby born in New Mexico. He was set to go home with his parents today.

HHS' Program Support Center, which disburses grant funds for HHS as well as other federal agencies, reported that its Payment Management System began making fund transfers today and operated without problems. Grantees are expected to receive payments as normal. PSC disburses about two-thirds of all federal grants each year ($165 billion in FY 1998, out of a total federal grant outlay of $246 billion). Following Y2K work, PSC had conducted extensive end-to-end testing with more than 80 partners within federal agencies, financial institutions, grant recipients and their respective automated information systems.

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