Department News

Today, Gov. John Bel Edwards announced that the Trump Administration’s Office of Inspector General Department of Health and Human Services audit has found that Louisiana’s Medicaid program has complied with the federal fraud reporting requirements, has the proper procedures in place to report fraud and is not in need of any recommendations for improvement. Louisiana is one of only four states to pass this audit since 2014.

Beginning on Memorial Day, Americans have started heading to the pools as the unofficial start of the swimming season is underway. But, a new survey reveals that there may be more in the pool than just water.

The Department of Health has awarded a $13 million loan to St. Bernard Waterworks. The loan is through the State’s Drinking Water Revolving Loan Fund, and will help the water system improve its drinking water quality.

The Department of Health has awarded a $975,000 loan to the Town of Welsh in Jefferson Davis Parish. The loan is through the State’s Drinking Water Revolving Loan Fund, and will help the town improve its drinking water system.

Gov. John Bel Edwards has received a letter from the Trump administration notifying the state that the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Food and Nutrition Service (FNS) has fully lifted the federal moratorium on the authorization of new vendors in the Louisiana Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants and Children (WIC).

The State now has more funding to fight the opioid epidemic. The Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) has awarded the Louisiana Department of Health a grant to target and reduce opioid abuse across the state. The State Targeted Response to the Opioid Crisis Grant is funded at $8,167,971 a year for two years.

Some Louisiana residents who are employed but currently receive their health care coverage under Medicaid may now be eligible for a program that will allow them to afford coverage from their employer.

The Department of Health recently awarded a $6.5 million loan to the Louisiana Water Company (LAWCO) located in several parishes throughout Louisiana. Provided through the State’s Drinking Water Revolving Loan Fund, the funding will help the water company improve drinking water infrastructure in the community water systems they operate.

Louisiana, including Caddo Parish, consistently experiences some of the highest rates of sexually transmitted diseases (STDs) in the United States. The most recent studies by the CDC, 2015 data, show Louisiana has the highest rate in the nation for primary and secondary syphilis and the highest gonorrhea rate. Further, among the top 70 counties/parishes in the U.S., Caddo is ranked 59.

Perhaps it sounds a little odd, but people both in Louisiana and elsewhere are sometimes fuzzy about the differences between the Affordable Care and Patient Protection Act, expanded Medicaid, and “Obamacare” — the politically charged term that involves the whole of the parts.