MANAGEMENT UPDATE.

TOP HHS CHALLENGES AT THE END OF 2024

Last week, the Inspector General for the US Department of Health and Human Services produced its annual report on the top management challenges facing HHS.

At this critical transition point, the checklist provides an excellent way to assess the challenges and priorities that existed at the end of President Biden’s administration and a way to track how they will be addressed going forward when President Trump’s administration begins in January. How this and other policy and management changes play out has a high degree of significance to state and local governments and residents.

Here is a selection of the top challenges faced at the end of 2024 by the departing administration:

The need to improve behavioral health, including the expansion of community-based prevention along with better access to affordable treatment.
The development of a diverse behavioral health workforce.
Attention to better maternal health, and the need for continued work on pregnancy-related and postpartum care and the elimination of “racial, ethnic, geographic and socioeconomic disparities in health outcomes.”
Strengthening emergency preparedness and response with attention to highly functional data systems, a “well-developed public health workforce”, and “mechanisms for effective coordination with States, localities, Tribes and Federal Intergovernmental partners.”
Reducing improper payments in Medicare, Medicaid and CHIP (The Children’s Health Insurance Program), estimated at $103,6 billion in fiscal 2023.
Work with states to make sure that complex state systems assess eligibility accurately.
Attention to the provision of high-quality care in Medicare and Medicaid and the reduction of disparate outcomes and access barriers.
A focus on fraud prevention in Medicare and Medicaid programs.
Improvement of nursing home quality and safety with a focus on transparency of facility ownership, staffing adequacy and minimum staffing standards.
Strengthened state response to nursing homes with attention to poor performance and the need for “partnerships and sustained commitment from Government and private stakeholders to achieve positive change.”
Improved oversight of Medicaid and Medicare managed care “to ensure that enrollees receive appropriate care without undue administrative or financial burden”, with attention to curbing misleading and deceptive marketing.
Ensuring equitable access to high quality care and reducing persistent disparities in health outcomes.
Work with states “to protect children in foster care from human trafficking.”
Better attention to protecting children and adults from abuse and neglect in care settings by thoroughly vetting providers and staff with adequate background checks.
Improving cybersecurity for HHS programs with “significant resource investments and cultural and organizational change across HHS.,” along with implementation of solutions by “thousands of HHS contractors, grantees and other external entities.”