Department of Health and Human Services

Scope

All Americans are impacted by the work of this federal agency.

Regulatory citations

• None

Key definitions

• None

Summary of requirements

Within the HHS are a couple of agencies HR professionals may be aware of:

• SAMHSA. One is the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA), which works to improve the quality and availability of substance abuse prevention, addiction treatment and mental health services. This agency provides guidelines for drug testing and drug free workplace programs.
• CMS. Another agency is the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS), which administers the Medicare and Medicaid programs, which provide health care to about one in every four Americans. CMS is also responsible for the administrative simplification standards from the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 (HIPAA), along insurance reform provisions of HIPAA, such as certificates of creditable coverage, preexisting condition exclusions, and self-funded nonfederal governmental plans.

The HHS, in particular the Office of Health Reform, also helps guide and oversee the implementation of the Affordable Care Act.