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Baton Rouge --- The Department of Health and Hospitals today awarded a contract to two consulting groups to help the Department of Health and Hospitals make the most of its federal funds. The contract was part of a mandate from Gov. Mike Foster’s office that asked the department investigate where it could recover additional federal revenues in the budget.
Baton Rouge – The federal government recently published new guidelines that will allow people to earn more money yet still qualify for some Medicaid programs.
Warm weather causes children to swarm onto the playgrounds at parks, schools and other public facilities. The Department of Health and Hospitals’ Office of Public Health, along with other agencies, wants to make sure bumps, bruises and broken bones do not spoil a good time.
The Department of Health and Hospitals Office of Public Health reports 21 birds in 17 parishes statewide have tested positive for West Nile virus. Caddo, Calcasieu, De Soto, East Baton Rouge, Jefferson, Lafayette, Lincoln, Livingston, Orleans, Ouachita, Rapides, St. Martin, St. Tammany, Tangipahoa, Vernon, Washington and West Baton Rouge parishes all have had positive birds. No human cases have been reported this year.
The federal government recently published new guidelines that will allow people to earn more money yet still qualify for some Medicaid programs.
The health department had three dead birds tested positive for traces of West Nile virus this week.
Tuesday, the Department of Health and Hospitals took more steps to balance its Medicaid budget by implementing spending cuts that will save approximately $8.3 million this current fiscal year. DHH is still investigating other ways to solve the current shortfall in the Medicaid program that is estimated to be at least $70 million.
According to a recent survey, one in four middle school-aged children in the state use tobacco products. This statistic, along with several others, was obtained through the Louisiana Youth Tobacco Survey (LYTS).
The Department of Health and Hospitals Office of Public Health has awarded a $3.7 million loan to the City of Westlake to help the community improve its drinking water. The loan was finalized last Thursday, March 27.
The Department of Health and Hospitals Office of Public Health announces today that three dead birds have tested positive for West Nile virus. The Louisiana State University School of Veterinary Medicine’s Diagnostic Lab performed the tests that detected the virus and reported the results to OPH. One bird, a sparrow, was found in Alexandria, another sparrow in West Monroe and a blue jay in Lafayette.
In an effort to make late diagnosis and emergency room visits for minor ailments a thing of the past, the Department of Health and Hospitals is now in the process of enrolling primary care physicians into CommunityCARE. This program will link approximately 637,000 (75 percent) of Louisiana’s Medicaid patients to a "medical home" so that each patient will have a doctor to coordinate his or her care.
Friday marks the first day of spring and the first official day of this year’s West Nile virus surveillance program, which involves testing dead birds for traces of the virus. Testing will take place through the Department of Health and Hospitals’ Office of Public Health.