Health and U.S. Department of Human Services

Health and Human Services, U.S. Department of (HHS), federal executive department created in 1979 as the successor to the Department of Health, Education, and Welfare. The second-largest federal department (after the Department of Defense), the HHS is responsible for over 300 federal health and human service programs. It includes the Offices of Human Developmental Services, the Public Health Service, the Social Security Administration, the Office of Child Support Enforcement, and the Health Care Financing Administration, which is in charge of Medicare and Medicaid.