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HHS Historical Highlights








  
  
    

  
      



The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) is the nation's principal agency for protecting the health of all Americans and providing essential human services.

Below is a list of major events in HHS history and a list of the Secretaries of HHS/HEW.

2010

The Affordable Care Act was signed into law, putting in place comprehensive U.S. health insurance reforms.

2003

The Medicare Prescription Drug Improvement and Modernization Act of 2003 was enacted - the most significant expansion of Medicare since its enactment. It included a prescription drug benefit.

2002

The Office of Public Health Emergency Preparedness (now the Administration for Strategic Preparedness and Response) was created to coordinate efforts against bioterrorism and other emergency health threats.

2001

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid was created, replacing the Health Care Financing Administration.HHS responds to the nation's first bioterrorism attack - delivery of anthrax through the mail.

2000

Publication of human genome sequencing.

1999

The Ticket to Work and Work Incentives Improvement Act of 1999 was signed, making it possible for millions of Americans with disabilities to join the workforce without fear of losing their Medicaid and Medicare coverage. It also modernized the employment services system for people with disabilities.

Initiative to combat bioterrorism was launched.

1997

The State Children's Health Insurance Program (SCHIP) was created, enabling states to extend health coverage to more uninsured children.

1996

Welfare reform under the Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act was enacted.
The Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) was enacted.

1995

The Social Security Administration became an independent agency.

1993

Vaccines for Children Program was established, providing free immunizations to all children in low-income families.

1990

Human Genome Project was established.

Nutrition Labeling and Education Act was passed, authorizing the food label.

Ryan White Comprehensive AIDS Resource Emergency (CARE) Act began providing support for people with HIV/AIDS

1989

The Agency for Health Care Policy and Research (now the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality) was created.

1988

JOBS program and federal support for child care was created.

McKinney Act was passed to provide health care to the homeless.

1984

National Organ Transplantation Act was signed into law.

1981

Identification of AIDS - In 1984, the HIV virus was identified by the Public Health Service and French scientists. In 1985, a blood test to detect HIV was licensed.

1980

Federal funding was provided to states for foster care and adoption assistance.

1979

The Department of Education Organization Act was signed into law, providing for a separate Department of Education. The Department of Health, Education, and Welfare (HEW) became the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) on May 4, 1980.

1977

The Health Care Financing Administration was created to manage Medicare and Medicaid separately from the Social Security Administration.

Worldwide eradication of smallpox, led by the U.S. Public Health Service.

1975

Child Support Enforcement and Paternity Establishment Program was established.

1971

National Cancer Act was signed into law.

1970

National Health Service Corps was created.

1966

International Smallpox Eradication program was established.

Community Health Center and Migrant Health Center programs were launched.

1965

Medicare and Medicaid programs were created, making comprehensive health care available to millions of Americans.

Older Americans Act created the nutritional and social programs administered by HHS' Administration on Aging.

Head Start program was created.

1964

Release of the first Surgeon General's Report on Smoking and Health.

1962

Migrant Health Act was passed, providing support for clinics serving agricultural workers.

1961

First White House Conference on Aging.

1955

Licensing of the Salk polio vaccine.

Indian Health Service was transferred to HHS from the Department of Interior.

1953

The Cabinet-level Department of Health, Education, and Welfare (HEW) was created under President Eisenhower, officially coming into existence April 11, 1953. In 1979, the Department of Education Organization Act was signed into law, providing for a separate Department of Education. HEW became the Department of Health and Human Services, officially arriving on May 4, 1980.

1946

Communicable Disease Center was established, forerunner of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

1939

The Federal Security Agency was created, bringing together related federal activities in the fields of health, education, and social insurance.

1938

Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act was passed.

1935

Social Security Act was passed.

1930

The National Institute (later Institutes) of Health was created out of the Public Health Service's Hygienic Laboratory.

1921

The Bureau of Indian Affairs Health Division, forerunner to the Indian Health Service, was created.

1912

President Theodore Roosevelt's first White House Conference urged creation of the Children's Bureau to combat exploitation of children.

1906

The Pure Food and Drugs Act was passed, authorizing the government to monitor the purity of foods and the safety of medicines, now a responsibility of the FDA.

1902

Conversion of the Marine Hospital Service into the Public Health and Marine Hospital Service in recognition of its expanding activities in the field of public health. In 1912, the name was shortened to the Public Health Service.

1891

Immigration legislation was passed, assigning the Marine Hospital Service the responsibility for medical examination of arriving immigrants.

1887

The federal government opened a one-room laboratory on Staten Island for research on disease, a very early precursor to the National Institutes of Health.

1878

The National Quarantine Act was passed, beginning the transfer of quarantine functions from the states to the federal Marine Hospital Service.

1871

Appointment of the first Supervising Surgeon (later called the Surgeon General) for the Marine Hospital Service, which had been organized the prior year.

1862

President Lincoln appointed a chemist, Charles M. Wetherill, to serve in the new Department of Agriculture. This was the beginning of the Bureau of Chemistry, forerunner to the Food and Drug Administration.

1798

Passage of an act for the relief of sick and disabled seamen, which established a federal network of hospitals for the care of merchant seamen, forerunner of today's U.S. Public Health Service.

Secretaries of HHS and HEW

The Secretary is a member of the President's Cabinet. Nominations to the office of Secretary are referred to the U.S. Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions, as well as the U.S. Senate Committee on Finance. Confirmation is last considered by the U.S. Senate.

January 24, 2018 - January 20, 2021

Alex M. Azar IIFebruary 10, 2017 - September 29, 2017

Thomas E. Price, M.D. (Archive Collection)June 9, 2014 - January 20, 2017

Sylvia M. Burwell (Archive Collection)April 28, 2009 - June 6, 2014

Kathleen Sebelius (Archive Collection)January 26, 2005 - January 20, 2009

Michael O. Leavitt (Archive Collection)February 2, 2001 - January 26, 2005

Tommy G. ThompsonJanuary 22, 1993 - January 20, 2001

Donna E. ShalalaMarch 1, 1989 - January 20, 1993

Louis W. Sullivan, M.DDecember 13, 1985 - January 20, 1989

Otis R. Bowen, M.D.March 9, 1983 - December 13, 1985

Margaret M. HecklerJanuary 22, 1981 - February 3, 1983

Richard S. SchweikerAugust 3, 1979 - January 20, 1981

Patricia Roberts HarrisJanuary 25, 1977 - August 3, 1979

Joseph A. Califano, Jr.August 8, 1975 - January 20, 1977

David MathewsFebruary 12, 1973 - August 8, 1975

Caspar W. WeinbergerJune 24, 1970 - January 29, 1973

Elliot L. RichardsonJanuary 21, 1969 - June 23, 1970

Robert H. FinchMay 16, 1968 - January 20, 1969

Wilbur J. CohenAugust 18, 1965 - March 1, 1968

John W. GardnerJuly 31, 1962 - August 17, 1965

Anthony J. CelebrezzeJanuary 21, 1961 - July 13, 1962

Abraham RibicoffAugust 1, 1958 - January 19, 1961

Arthur S. FlemmingAugust 1, 1955 - July 31, 1958

Marion B. FolsomApril 11, 1953 - July 31, 1955

Oveta Culp Hobby

                    
  


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