Ensuring the Financial Integrity of HHS Programs
The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS or the Department) is the largest civilian agency in the Federal Government, with a $1.2 trillion budget in fiscal year (FY) 2019, representing more than one-third of the total Federal budget. HHS's Medicare program is the Nation's largest health insurer, handling more than 1 billion claims per year. Medicare and Medicaid, the Department's largest programs, comprise 49 percent of the U.S. health care insurance economy. More than 136 million beneficiaries, or more than 40 percent of Americans, rely on these programs for their health insurance, including senior citizens, individuals with disabilities, low-income families and individuals, and patients with end-stage renal disease. CMS bears the responsibility at HHS for administering these programs. Federal Medicare expenditures totaled $644.8 billion in FY 2019; Federal Medicaid spending totaled $418.7 billion in FY 2019 (with an additional $18.6 billion for the Children's Health Insurance Program (CHIP)).