Department of Health and Human Services

American  

noun

1. the department of the U.S. government that administers federal programs dealing with public health, welfare, and income security: created in 1979 from the reorganized Department of Health, Education, and Welfare. HHS

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Department of Health and Human Services Cultural  

1. A department of the federal executive branch responsible for the Social Security Administration, the Public Health Service, and other programs designed to promote public welfare. It was originally called the Department of Health, Education, and Welfare, until the separate Department of Education was created in 1979.

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Example Sentences

Officials from the federal Department of Health and Human Services and Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services have “expressed their significant dismay” to the state following the Journal’s reporting, Roob said.

From The Wall Street Journal • Mar. 25, 2026

The Eldercare Locator — which is part of the Department of Health and Human Services — can also help connect people in need with local services.

From MarketWatch • Mar. 21, 2026

About 15% of the US population is affected by dyslexia, according to the US Department of Health and Human Services.

From BBC • Mar. 16, 2026

Three other Democratic senators — Dick Durbin, Elizabeth Warren and Peter Welch — raised another concern in a Jan. 29 letter to Thomas March Bell, inspector general for the Department of Health and Human Services.

From Los Angeles Times • Feb. 7, 2026

She took out a State of Maine * Department of Health and Human Services folder and laid it on the kitchen table.

From "Orbiting Jupiter" by Gary D. Schmidt