HHS Cuts $167 Million From Other Programs To Pay For Services To Illegal Alien Youth

CNSNews

By Jessica Vaughan | December 1, 2016 | 4:24 PM EST

An average of 255 illegal alien youths were taken into the custody of the Office of Refugee Resettlement (ORR) every day this month, according to the latest figures the agency provided to Congress. This is the largest number of illegal alien children ever in the care of the federal government. To pay for it, the agency says it will need an additional one or two billion dollars for the next year – above and beyond the $1.2 billion spent in 2016 and proposed for 2017 – depending on how many more arrive. For now, the Secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), where ORR resides, is diverting $167 million from other programs to cover the cost of services for these new illegal arrivals through December 9, when the current continuing resolution expires.

An email to congressional staff from Barbara Clark of the HHS legislative liaison office, dated November 28, 2016, stated:

“Daily referrals of unaccompanied children averaged 247 over the last seven days, and 255 so far in November. For comparison, referrals averaged 185 per day in November of FY 2016 and 64 per day in November of FY 2015. As of November 27, 2016, the number of children in ORR care is approximately 11,200.”

A separate email informed congressional offices of HHS Secretary Burwell's intent to transfer money from other programs to ORR to pay for shelters, health care, schooling, recreation, and other services for the new illegal arrivals, who typically were brought to the border by smugglers paid by their parents, who often are living in the United States illegally. According to CIS Fellow Joe Kolb's recent report, ORR will place these youths with family members or other sponsors, but eventually will lose touch with nearly half of them when they melt into the larger illegal alien population.

Writes Clark:


“In FY 2016, 59,200 unaccompanied children (UC) were referred to the Office of Refugee Resettlement (ORR) in the Administration for Children and Families (ACF), 25,000 more than in FY 2015. ORR has experienced consistent month over month growth in the number of referrals of nearly nine percent since June 2016. As a result, ORR is currently funding more shelter capacity and has more children in care than ever before in the history of the program. ...

“During the first month of the new Fiscal Year, the trend experienced last fiscal year has continued. In October, 7,420 unaccompanied children were referred to ORR's care, the third highest referral month in the program's history. Last month, ORR served more children, with a higher number of shelter beds in operation, than ever before. The total number of children in care is nearly double what it was a year ago – an average of 10,154 in October of FY 2017 versus 5,823 in October of FY 2016.”

HHS received $171 million to spend on services for the illegal alien youths through the budget period covered by the current continuing resolution, which expires December 9, 2016. The agency also has a surplus of $90 million leftover from 2016, for a total of $261 million now available.

But they estimate that they will need another $40 to $165 million more just to cover expenses through December 9, so Secretary Burwell has used her authority to transfer the money to ORR from other HHS programs.


According to my sources, because there are limits to the amount of money that agency heads can move around, in this case Burwell will be cutting every appropriations account at HHS by a small percentage. That means that in order to provide services to the illegal alien youths, money is being taken from other vital health and welfare programs, including:

$14 million from the Health Resources and Services Administration, including $4.5 million from the Ryan White HIV/AIDS Program and $2 million from the Maternal and Child Health program;
$14 million from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, for contagious disease prevention and treatment and other critical public health programs;
$72 million from the National Institutes of Health, for research on cancer, diabetes, drug abuse, mental health, infectious diseases and much more;
$8 million from the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, for treatment and prevention programs;
$8 million from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services;
$39 million from the Children and Families Services Program;
$4 million from the Aging and Disability Services Programs;
$3 million from the Public Health and Social Services Emergency Fund, including more than $1 million from the Pandemic Influenza and BioShield Fund.

The email states that unless Congress appropriates more money for services for the illegal alien youths in their custody, the new arrivals might be "stranded" at the border:

“The budget outlook for the remainder of the fiscal year is even more serious. The FY 2017 House and Senate Labor-HHS appropriations bills propose flat funding for FY 2017, which leaves the program significantly underfunded. Based on the information we have and the trends we are experiencing, flat funding for ORR this year will make it impossible to meet our statutory responsibility to provide shelter and care for the children that are referred to ORR. We now calculate that the program will need between $1 billion and $2 billion over FY 2016 levels, depending on the number of children that arrive.

“In brief, funds are needed to ensure that ORR can continue to provide shelter to unaccompanied children referred by DHS and other law enforcement agencies throughout FY 2017. With ORR's balances depleted, and having exhausted the additional funding available through the full exercise of the Secretary's transfer authority, ORR is not able to meet our legal and humanitarian obligations to shelter these children. HHS cannot continue to provide the services we are statutorily bound to provide and avoid a scenario where children are potentially stranded at the border without additional funding from the Congress.

“Please let us know if you have any questions.”

Instead of funding ORR to essentially complete the job of the human smugglers who were paid by the parents of the youths to bring them to the United States in the expectation that they would be allowed to stay with their families, Congress should instead direct funding to the Border Patrol for temporary shelters from which the youths and their families can be swiftly returned to their home countries.

Jessica M. Vaughan is Director of Policy Studies at the Center for Immigration Studies, a research institute in Washington DC.

Editor's Note: This piece was originally published by the Center for Immigration Studies.

Thank You Ms Vaughan and CNS.

Lawmakers Subpoena IRS, Treasury Over ACA Payments

fiercehealthcare
January 21, 2016 | By Katherine Moody

Following what they claim is the Obama administration's unlawful payments to insurance companies for almost a year, Rep. Fred Upton (R-Mich.) and Rep. Kevin Brady (R-Texas) have submitted subpoenas to both the IRS and the Secretary of the Treasury, according to an announcement from the House Energy and Commerce Committee.

The congressmen have also requested similar information from Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Sylvia Mathews Burwell, the announcement said. Upton and Brady first launched their investigation in February 2015, and they say HHS was reluctant to provide any requested information. They then resubmitted a request in July 2015, but were again met with opposition. Finally, after a December 2015 final request went unanswered, the chairmen are requiring that the Treasury comply with their requests by Feb. 3.

Upton and Brady have halted their plans to subpoena Burwell, as she agreed this week to brief Upton on the issue via phone, the announcement says.

The committee leaders have been concerned that the administration is paying subsidies to insurance companies--known as cost-sharing reductions tied to the Affordable Care Act--without approval from Congress. These subsidies have totaled more than $5 billion to date, and it is estimated that it would grow to $170 billion over the next 10 years, Upton and Brady say. 

House Republicans are also pressuring the administration about funding for other ACA provisions, FierceHealthPayer has reported. Brady and Upton had threatened to subpoena Burwell over what they believe is misuse of federal funds for the ACA's Basic Health Program, and the House Energy and Commerce Committee has asked the Government Accountability Office to examine the administration's role in some states' transition from state-based information technology systems for their exchanges to the federal program.

To learn more:
- here's the announcement

Related Articles:
House Republicans press HHS about Affordable Care Act funding
CMS' Andy Slavitt defends oversight of state exchanges
Cost-sharing reduction plans save individuals $479 annually

Thank You Ms Moody and FH.

HHS Secretary Defends Planned Parenthood's Federal Funding After Vids Show Them Selling Aborted Babies . . . Admits She Has NOT Seen The Videos

weaselzippers

Ignorant, and proud of it.

Via The Hill:

Secretary of Health and Human Services Sylvia Mathews Burwell on Tuesday defended federal funding for Planned Parenthood as a third undercover video was released on the organization’s use of fetal tissue.

“What I think is important is that our HHS funding is focused on issues of preventative care for women, things like mammograms,” Burwell told the House Education and Workforce Committee.

“We do not fund abortion,” she said, under the longstanding Hyde Amendment.

Burwell declined to directly answer a question on her personal views about fetal tissue research. She said she has not seen the Planned Parenthood videos that have stoked controversy, but has read about them.

“This is an important issue that people have passion deeply on both sides of the issue,” she said.

HT: LifeNews

Thank You Zip and The Hill.

And Who is this Burwell person again?

New HHS Sec Nominee Sylvia Burwell: Behind Govt. Shutdown Fiasco And Vince Foster Shenanigans

Risperdal Lawsuit Filed Against HHS & Sec Burwell, FDA & Sec Hamburg

Injury Lawyer News;
APRIL 16, 2015By: Whitney Taylor

A Risperdal lawsuit has been filed against the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) and the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA), as well as key officials in those departments.

The complaint, which was filed by a Pennsylvania law firm, alleges these agencies failed to consider a citizen petition by the law firm that requested a change in labeling for the anti-psychotic drug Risperdal. The plaintiffs claim the FDA denied the request without a proper meeting or hearing, or even without considering all the evidence submitted by the plaintiffs to demonstrate the dangers of Risperdal, particularly to children.

Complaint filed in federal court

The complaint was filed in U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania on January 29, 2015. Defendants listed in the complaint include the HHS, FDA, Sylvia Mathews Burwell, Secretary of the HHS, and Margaret A. Hamburg, M.D., Commissioner for the FDA. The plaintiff in the complaint is a law firm that has represented hundreds of children who have suffered serious injury after taking Risperdal and its generic counterparts.

The plaintiff filed a citizen complaint with the FDA after receiving confidential documents establishing the dangers associated with Risperdal consumption by minors. The information came to the plaintiff as a result of their representation with young clients that had been injured by the drug. In the petition, the plaintiff requested the FDA to obtain those documents directly or release the plaintiff from confidentiality orders put in place by Risperdal manufactures Johnson & Johnson and their subsidiary Janssen.

According to the complaint, the FDA denied the plaintiff’s petition and “expressly refused” to consider facts the plaintiff had submitted involving the inadequate labeling of Risperdal. The plaintiffs further state in their complaint that the FDA’s denial “puts at risk numerous pediatric patients who are prescribed Risperdal drugs.” Risperdal and generic versions of the drug have been linked to serious side effectsin young male patients, including abnormal breast growth and other issues with sexual development.

Continue Reading.

[SNIP]

article footnotes/resources

1. Forbes, J&J Sees Male Breasts and Quickly Settles Risperdal Suit,http://www.forbes.com/sites/edsilverman/2012/09/11/jj-sees-male-breasts-and-quickly-settles-risperdal-suit/


2. Medscape, Antipsychotic may Boost Gynecomastia Risk,http://www.medscape.com/viewarticle/822072


3. U.S. National Library of Medicine, Risperidone-Induced Symptomatic Hyperprolactinaemia in Adolescents, http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/16633146


4. The Philadelphia Courts, Complex Litigation Center- Mass Tort Information,http://www.courts.phila.gov/common-pleas/trial/civil/clc.asp


5. U.S. National Library of Medicine, Psychosocial Impact of Adolescent Gynecomastia: A Prospective Case-Control Study, http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/23542261

Thank You ILN.

HHS Chief Sylvia Burwell: Americans Not Smart Enough To Eat Healthier On Their Own

The Condescending never quits. You peasants are so stupid you'd all die a Horrible Death without US ordering every breath you take.

weaselzippers;

Hence the need for the Nanny State.

Via Charlie Spiering:

Health and Human Services Secretary Sylvia Burwell explained that in order to get Americans to eat healthier, they needed to be educated and provided the proper tools.

“They need to actually know what healthy eating is,” she said, adding that “some people don’t know how to fix fresh vegetables, or haven’t used them before.”

She added that some people didn’t even know how to serve fresh fruit – citing as an example the difficulty of cutting a fresh pineapple or a pomegranate.

Keep reading…

Thank You Mr Spiering and Zip.


Then on the other hand, Ms Burwell and Her Faction actually did seize the Govt. through their own Triumph Der Willens, and a whole bunch of somebodies not only let them get away with it, but cheered them on.

Govt. (USDA) Wants $30K Shopping Carts to Tell Food Stampers To Eat Healthy, After Ordering Submachine Guns With 30 Round Magazines: UPDATE, Also Wants Body Armor

Are they going to position the Submachinegun toting Agents in the Super Market parking Lot, to make certain America "Obeys The Cart"?

Who Is The New HHS Secretary, Sylvia Mathews Burwell?

DiscoverTheNetworks has;
Sylvia Mathews Burwell

Sylvia Mathews Burwell was born to Greek-American parents in June 1965 in Hinton, West Virginia, where she was raised. Whileearning a bachelor's degree in government from Harvard University during the 1980s, she interned for Rep. Nick Rahall, a West Virginia Democrat. Burwell subsequently worked for the 1988 presidential campaign of Massachusetts Governor Michael Dukakis, and earned a second bachelor's degree in philosophy, politics and economics from Oxford University, where she was a Rhodes Scholar.

From 1990-92 Burwell was an associate at McKinsey & Company, a global management consulting firm. She worked for Bill Clinton's presidential campaign in 1992, and was named manager of his White House transition team after the election that November.

From 1993-95 Burwell served as staff director for Robert Rubin, Assistant to the President for Economic Policy. In 1993 she helpedRubin get the newly created National Economic Council up and running. And when Rubin was appointed U.S. Treasury Secretary in 1995, Burwell became his chief of staff and held that post for two years.

In 1995 Burwell was called to testify before a Senate committee inestigating whether First Lady Hillary Clinton may have instructed White House officials to remove potentially incriminating documents from the office of her close friend and former law partner Vince Foster, shortly after the latter had been found dead—apparently of suicide—in a Virginia park on July 20, 1993. At issue was the fact that Foster, in the months prior to his death, had handled many sensitive political and personal affairs for the Clintons—including the couple's controversial Whitewater land venture, for which 15 Clinton associates were ultimately convicted of more than 40 separate crimes. In her testimony, Mathews recalled that: (a) Secret Service personnel did in fact give her a special bag of garbage (from Foster's office) containing classified and sensitive papers; (b) she then asked White House counsel Bernard Nussbaum for his advice on what to do with the documents; and (c) Nussbaum instructed her to return the bag, unexamined, to the Secret Service so that its contents could be destroyed.

In 1997-98 Burwell served as one of President Clinton's two deputy chiefs of staff, the other being future Center for American Progress founder John Podesta. Burwell and Podesta both worked under chief of staff Erskine Bowles.

From 1998-2001, Burwell was deputy director of the Office of Management and Budget, under director Jack Lew. During that time period, then-Washington Post reporter John Harris described Burwell as “a liberal who favors spending on social programs for the disadvantaged.”

During her eight years with the Clinton administration, Burwell developed a deep affinity for the President. As she later told theSeattle Times: “I made a decision that I believed, and do to this day, that while President Clinton made a mistake [vis à vis the Monica Lewinsky sexual scandal], that the contributions he made to this country and the important changes are so profound that I would continue to serve, and serve with my head held high.”

After President Clinton left office, Burwell joined the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation where she served as executive vice president from 2001-02, chief operating officer from 2002-06, and president of the foundation's Global Development Program from 2006-11.

In January 2012 Burwell was named president of the Walmart Foundation, a postition she held until April 2013 when she becamedirector of the Office of Management and Budget under President Barack Obama.

On April 11, 2014, Obama nominated Burwell to succeed the recently resigned Kathleen Sebelius as U.S. Secretary of Health and Human Services.

In addition to her aforementioned governmental and philanthropic pursuits, Burwell over the years has also been a Board of Directors member of the Council on Foreign Relations; a Board member of the Alliance for a Green Revolution in Africa; an Advisory Board member with the Next Generation Initiative and the Peter G. Peterson Foundation; a Professional Advisory Board member of the ALS Evergreen Chapter; a member of the Aspen Strategy Group, the Trilateral Commission, and the Nike Foundation Advisory Group; and a director of both MetLife Inc. and the Metropolitan Life Insurance Company (from early 2004 through early 2013).

Thank You Discover The Networks.

And Thank You Front Page Mag and Mr Horowitz.