Department News

Governor John Bel Edwards thanked CMS for expediting the approval of the state plan amendment, the formal request to make a change to the Medicaid program, to allow for the automatic enrollment of SNAP enrollees, as it will allow more people to get health care coverage as soon as July 1.

U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Secretary Sylvia M. Burwell applauded tomorrow’s launch of Louisiana’s Medicaid expansion program under the Affordable Care Act. Beginning June 1, Louisiana residents with a household income below 138 percent of the federal poverty level will be eligible to obtain health coverage through the state’s Medicaid program. As of tomorrow, 31 states and the District of Columbia will have expanded Medicaid. With Louisiana, we have reached a “tipping point:” More than half of the uninsured who could gain coverage from Medicaid expansion live in states that have expanded this program.

Louisiana’s top health official doesn’t mince words when discussing the Zika virus threat to the state.

In order to lower Louisiana’s rate of new HIV infections, DeAnn Gruber, STD/HIV program director with the Louisiana Office of Public Health, joined researchers from Emory University to share new information that analyzes the rates of HIV among men who have sex with men (MSM) both nationwide and in Louisiana.

The statewide tour to promote Medicaid expansion, known as Healthy Louisiana, continues this week at an event in Houma. Healthy Louisiana will bring health insurance coverage to an estimated 375,000 working Louisianans. The event will be May 18 at 2 p.m. at the Teche Action Clinic at 1014 West Tunnel Blvd.

Too much time sitting in front of the television or watching a phone or tablet is linked to poor school performance, childhood obesity and attention problems.

Both Louisiana and the nation have experienced declines in teen birth rates over the past decade, and Secretary Rebekah Gee of the Department of Health and Hospitals says that’s something to celebrate. Teen girls who become mothers are much less likely to complete high school. Teen fathers also see a decline in graduation rates.

Today, Governor John Bel Edwards and the Louisiana Department of Health and Hospitals (DHH) outlined how the proposed changes to the Executive Budget, HB 1, would threaten vital health care services and families in the State of Louisiana. This week, the House Appropriations Committee Chairman unveiled drastic changes to the budget without prior consultation with legislators and the administration. The plan would likely close hospitals across the state, including our flagship hospitals that train the next generation of medical professionals, eliminate waiver programs that provide lifesaving services, and would limit the state’s ability to provide licenses to facilities and adequately investigate complaints. In addition, the state is at risk of losing more than $1 billion in federal funding.

Department of Health and Hospitals Secretary Dr. Rebekah Gee praised the Louisiana State Senate for its passage of SB 254, a bill that would require Louisiana employers to pay men and women the same wage for the same work. Women in Louisiana earn just 65 cents on the dollar compared to men when performing similar work, according to a widely cited 2014 study performed by the American Association of University Women.

DHH Secretary Dr. Rebekah Gee today urged mothers across Louisiana to live healthily and to ensure that they get regular health checks, including annual mammograms and other cancer screenings when appropriate. Gee, a mother of five, cited the loss of her own mother as one reason why she makes sure to always get her own annual physicals and has begun to get an annual mammogram.