HHS

President Trump Donates Fourth Quarter Salary to Health and Human Services to Fight Coronavirus

President Donald Trump on Tuesday donated his fourth-quarter salary to the Depaetment of Heath and Human Services on Tuesday to help fight coronavirus. The news was announced by White House Press Secretary Stephanie Grisham on Twitter. “President Donald Trump made a commitment to donate his salary while in office,” she wrote, sharing an image of the check for $100,000. The president donated his first-quarter salary to the Department of Homeland Security, the second-quarter salary to the Surgeon General, and his third-quarter salary to the Office of the Assistant Secretary of Health. Trump is required to be paid, but he has pledged to donate his salary while in office to worthy government programs.

Whatever you may think of President Trump, there is no question the man puts his money where his mouth is.  He doesn’t just talk the talk like most politicians.  He walks the walk.  And, ask yourself..  Would miss entitlement elitist Hillary have donated one cent of her salary if she had won in 2016?  Oh heck no!  So, kudos to President Trump for doing this, and keeping that campaign promise to donate his entire salary.  Click on the text above if you wanna see a picture of his endorsed check.    🙂

White House officials hope for coronavirus funding deal by next week

The White House and Congress are in “productive” talks on a package to fund the coronavirus response and hope to strike an agreement by early next week, the administration said Friday. “We know that the pace of conversation is accelerating into this weekend,” said Eric Ueland, the White House director for legislative affairs. President Trump told Congress this week he wants to spend $2.5 billion to combat the virus, which has sickened more than 80,000 people across the globe. Members of both parties say that number needs to be higher. White House officials didn’t say where they thought negotiators would land, but Mr. Trump says he’s willing to accept more than his requested amount. He wants to sign a deal not later than the week starting March 9, officials said. Mr. Ueland said he is pleased that Congress hasn’t tried to attach unrelated measures to the bill, saying it’s allowed negotiators to focus. Washington is racing to fund the U.S. response to the virus that’s devastated parts of China, rattle markets and stressed economies and health systems in Italy, South Korea and Iran. While younger, healthier people tend to recover from the illness known as COVID-19, it can lead to respiratory distress, organ failure and death, particularly in older persons or those with underlying health conditions. The U.S. has seen 62 cases on its soil — 47 of them were repatriated from China and Japan, while 14 were discovered among known travelers or their spouses in America. It’s unclear how a 15th patient, a woman hospitalized California, contracted the disease. Mr. Azar said Mr. Trump’s request focuses on boosting the nation’s ability to detect COVID-19, developing a vaccine and therapeutic drugs, providing protective gear to frontline workers and supporting state and local government. Mr. Azar said the administration is prepared to use the Defense Production Act to make sure companies turn out things like N95 respirator masks and protective gowns. “If we need to use it, we will use it,” Mr. Azar said. As nations like Japan close schools to deal with the virus, Mr. Azar said any contingencies in the U.S. will be on a continuum, starting with less intrusive measures to keep people apart before more intensive measures are taken. “Every option needs to be on the table,” Mr. Azar said, responding to a question about potential school closures. “It depends really on what circumstances we end up facing.” On funding, White House officials balked at the idea that Mr. Trump’s request for $2.5 billion lowballed the price tag of the response. They focused on the rest of the fiscal year through September instead of an open-ended, or “no-year,” request like Democratic Sen. Charles E. Schumer’s push for $8.5 billion. Russ Vought, acting director of the Office of Management and Budget, also said he wanted to clear up misconceptions about Mr. Trump’s budget moves in office, saying the media has gotten it wrong. He said Mr. Trump’s fiscal 2021 budget includes a 3% increase for the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to combat infectious diseases. The CDC faces an overall reduction due to cuts to things like climate-change research or occupational health research that universities are doing instead, according to Mr. Vought. “It is not true that we cut CDC infectious-disease fighting,” he said. He said additional funding from Congress will be vital, but the administration isn’t running on fumes. “We need a supplemental, we need it soon, there’s no doubt about that,” Mr. Vought said. “But we haven’t run out of money.” Also Friday, Mr. Azar said his agency is “fully investigating” a whistleblower complaint that says HHS employees didn’t take proper precautions in dealing with repatriated Americans who flew into a California military base from places in Asia battered by the coronavirus. “We will take remedial measures if needed,” Mr. Azar said. He said the Office for Children and Families, which was alleged to have broken protocol, will no longer be involved in the coronavirus response since the U.S. does not plan to conduct more repatriation flights.

HHS proposes rollback of Obama protections for transgender patients

The Trump administration wants to roll back protections for transgender patients, frightening LGBT activists who fear a loss of care while enthusing conservatives who say an Obama-era rewrite stretched existing law. The previous administration issued 2016 regulations that said laws barring health care discrimination on the basis of sex should include gender identity. Religious groups sued over those rules — an outgrowth of Obamacare — and federal courts in Texas and North Dakota enjoined them from taking effect. The Trump administration says they’re taking a position that comports with those decisions, adheres to existing law and slashes billions of dollars in unnecessary paperwork. “When Congress prohibited sex discrimination, it did so according to the plain meaning of the term, and we are making our regulations conform,” said Roger Severino, director of HHS’s Office of Civil Rights. “The American people want vigorous protection of civil rights and faithfulness to the text of the laws passed by their representatives.” The proposal will escalate a simmering fight between LGBT advocates and President Trump, who earlier this month issued a “conscience” protection rule to shield health workers who object to participating in certain procedures. Also, the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) issued rules on homeless shelters this week that defer to local and state law in considering how a person’s sex should impact accommodations. Advocates fear that transgender people will be turned away or forced to use a bathroom that doesn’t comport with their identity.

And this is where we are in 2019 in America..  The Trump Administration is exactly right for taking this step.  For more, click on the text above.

Senate approves Alex Azar as HHS secretary

The Senate on Wednesday confirmed Alex Azar as secretary of the Health and Human Services Department, entrusting a former pharmaceutical executive to tamp down drug prices and steer President Trump’s attempts to reshape Obamacare. A handful of Democrats joined all but one Republican in approving the nominee, 55-43, brushing aside liberal voices who said Mr. Azar’s track record of raising prices at drugmaker Eli Lilly made him the wrong man for the job. Republicans said Mr. Azar’s resume was an asset, not a liability. A sharp lawyer who served in the Bush administration, Mr. Azar is said to have an encyclopedic knowledge of how HHS works and a firm grasp on how perverse market incentives are driving drug prices upward. “His distinguished record – including prior HHS service as deputy secretary and private-sector work – shows he is the right man for the job,” Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnnell said. “It is vital that this department be headed by a leader with Mr. Azar’s extensive qualifications and excellent reputation.” Mr. Azar will fill a secretary chair that’s been occupied by acting boss Eric D. Hargan for several months. President Trump’s first pick for the job — former congressman Tom Price — resigned amid revelations he used expensive charter planes for business travel. Once installed, Mr. Azar will oversee a sprawling, $1-trillion agency that regulates and approves drugs, combats disease and runs public health programs such as Medicaid and Medicare.

HHS Report: Average Health Insurance Premiums Doubled Under Obamacare

The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) released a new report that reveals that individual health insurance premiums doubled under Obamacare. Health insurance premiums doubled since 2013, the year before many Obamacare regulations and mandates took effect. The Obama administration compiled the data for the report, which was produced by the Office of the Assistant Secretary for Planning and Evaluation (ASPE). HHS spokesperson Alleigh Marré stated, “With data that shows average premiums doubling nationwide and Americans paying nearly $3,000 more for health insurance per year, this report is a sobering reminder of why reforming our healthcare system remains a top priority of the Trump Administration. The status quo is unsustainable.” According to the report: •Average individual insurance premiums more than doubled from $2,784 per year in 2013 to $5,712 on Healthcare.gov in 2017. This amounts to a 105% increase in health insurance premiums. •All 39 states using Healthcare.gov experienced increases in individual market premiums form 2013-2017. •Roughly two-thirds of states using Healthcare.gov had 2017 premiums double compared to 2013 health insurance premiums. •Three states including Alaska, Alabama, and Oklahoma saw premiums triple from 2013-2017.

Now..  If that isn’t enough FACTUAL data to support the idea of repealing and replacing the failed Obamacare, I don’t know what is..  Hopefully Pres. Trump, Speaker Paul Ryan (R-WI), and Sen. Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) will refer to this shocking report in the weeks and months to come.

Donald Trump Appoints Dr. Charmaine Yoest as Assistant Secretary of HHS for Public Affairs

President Donald Trump has appointed the pro-life advocate and former president of Americans United for Life (AUL), Dr. Charmaine Yoest, to be assistant secretary of public affairs for the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS). National pro-life leader and Susan B. Anthony List President Marjorie Dannenfelser responded to the announcement of Yoest’s appointment with the following statement: ” Charmaine Yoest is one of the pro-life movement’s most articulate and powerful communicators. As the former president and CEO of Americans United for Life, she led groundbreaking efforts to advance pro-life, pro-woman legislation at the state level. She is perfectly suited to take on this role at HHS and it is no surprise to see President Trump once again appoint a strong, pro-life woman to his team. The fact that Yoest will be replacing Kevin Griffis, who now works for Planned Parenthood, is another indication of the dramatic change we’ve seen in Washington since the election of President Trump. This is a new era for the pro-life movement and our fight to protect unborn children and their mothers from the horror of abortion.” Planned Parenthood, the nation’s largest provider of abortions, reacted to Yoest’s appointment with a tweet expressing its disapproval: “As president of AUL, Yoest worked to emphasize the negative consequences of abortion for both women and their unborn babies and to require young girls to obtain the consent of their parents prior to obtaining abortions.” Yoest has been a senior fellow at American Values in Washington, DC. She served in the White House under President Ronald Reagan in the Office of Presidential Personnel. Additionally, she served as a Trump for President surrogate and a senior adviser to the 2008 Huckabee for President campaign.

Dr. Yoest sounds eminently qualified despite the left’s fixation on the fact that she’s pro-life…like that’s somehow a bad thing.  If the only “negative” thing Planned Parenthood can say about her is the fact that she has advocated for the idea that underage/young girls get parental permission for an abortion, then she should be confirmed (if the position requires that process).  Besides, it sounds like common sense to me.  An abortion is a very serious medical procedure that oftentimes comes with major medical side effects.  If kids are required to get consent forms signed for little things like get vaccinations, then it only makes sense they should get such written for a major surgical operation, right?  But, we digress..  We have every faith that Dr. Yoest will be a fine assistant secretary at HHS for public affairs, and represent the Trump administration with distinction.  We wish her all the best in her new position!

HHS Confirms Unaccompanied Illegal Alien Children in U.S. Will Have Access to Abortion

Health and Human Service’s Office of Refuge Resettlement (ORR) has confirmed to CNSNews.com that abortion is one of the emergency medical services that must be made available by federally funded caregivers of illegal alien unaccompanied minors (Unaccompanied Children or UC) who have been sexually assaulted and become pregnant. HHS issued a new regulation on “sexual abuse and sexual harassment” of unaccompanied children on Dec. 24, 2014, and although the regulation does not specially name abortion as one of the required emergency medical services, an official from HHS’ Administration for Children and Families, which operates ORR, told CNSNews.com via email that abortion is one of those services. “The ‘lawful pregnancy-related medical services’ includes abortion,” the email statement said.

If this doesn’t make you want to scream as if you’ve gone insane, then you may need to see a doctor.  Let’s be clear, this is NOT about abortion.  I personally couldn’t care less one way or the other if someone has one.  I just care if I have to pay for it!!  We as taxpayers should NOT be forced to pay for such an elective procedure, and certainly not for illegal aliens who shouldn’t be here in the first place!!  Ughh….

HHS Transferring Illegal Unaccompanied Minors with Potential MS-13 Ties to Gang Stronghold Cities

HHS Transferring Illegal Unaccompanied Minors with Potential MS-13 Ties to Gang Stronghold Cities

Just awful..  I don’t care if you’re 5 or 105.  If you’re an illegal alien and you have ties to a gang like MS-13, a drug cartel, and/or you’re already a convicted “criminal alien,” then you need to be deported.  Period.  Here is today’s latest example of why we need to BUILD THE WALL NOW!!! and follow Gov. Rick Perry’s (R-TX) lead of putting the U.S. Army National Guard physically ON our entire southern border…at least until the border is secured.  This is just unreal..

Budget to Transport Illegals Across USA Approaches $100M

 

Budget to Transport Illegals Across USA Approaches $100M

Holy crap!!!!  This is our hard-earned tax-dollars at work.  NOT!!  THIS is why we need to make Sen. Harry Reid (D-NV) the U.S. Senate MINORITY leader in a few months!!  Instead of using our tax dollars to secure the border and turn BACK illegals, our tax dollars are being sent, courtesy of the Dem-controlled Senate, to Obama federal agencies to help send these illegals to places all over the country.  Outrageous!!!  Call/email/write your two U.S. Senators today and tell them NOT to do this and to, instead, secure the border and turn BACK these illegal aliens (regardless of age)…and to BUILD THE WALL!!!!  And, if they’re supporting this sorta crap, then bounce their bums out of office in November.  DHS Sec. Jeh Johnson has it ALL bas-akwards.  He needs to be told that if he doesn’t do HIS job and secure the border, he’ll LOSE funding; NOT get all of this Senate-approved funding to implement Obama’s undermining of our laws.  After reading this article I think I need a beer…or twelve.

HHS Report: 1,295,571 Obamacare Enrollees May or May Not Be Legal Citizens

HHS Report: 1,295,571 Obamacare Enrollees May or May Not Be Legal Citizens

Some truly devastating new info from HHS about Obamacare; an already failed, and broken behemoth of federal government fascism the likes of which we’ve never seen in this ostensibly free nation….and it will cost we-the-taxpayers TRILLIONS of dollars.  We really do deserve the politicians we elect…and RE-elect.