Assistant Secretary of Health and Human Services for Planning and Evaluation
Since its authorization in 1965, ASPE has played an instrumental[1] role as an internal strategy group, think tank, and incubator supporting the priorities and needs of the Secretary, and consequently, the Department as a whole.
ASPE leads special initiatives on behalf of the Secretary; provides direction for, and coordinates, HHS policy research, evaluation and data gathering and related analyses; and manages cross-Department activities, such as strategic and legislation planning.
ASPE undertakes a variety of policy development, research, analysis, evaluation and data development activities in support of ACA implementation including:[1] • Modeling and evaluation support for the CMS Innovation Center including post acute care payment activities.
ASPE Grant Awards Table [1] ASPE maintains a grants program to support research and evaluation by academically based research centers of important and emerging social policy issues associated with income dynamics, poverty, transitions from welfare to work, child well-being, and special populations.
It also focuses on expanding our understanding of the causes, consequences and effects of poverty in local geographic areas, especially in states or regional areas of high concentrations of poverty, and on improving our understanding of how family structure and function affect the health and well-being of children, adults, families and communities.
The Office of Disability, Aging and Long-Term Care Policy (DALTCP) is responsible for the development, coordination, research and evaluation of HHS policies and programs that support the independence, productivity, health and well-being of children, working age adults, and older persons with disabilities.
The office is also responsible for policy coordination and research to promote the economic and social well-being of older Americans.
[4] DALTCP coordinates its work with aging and disability-related agencies and programs throughout the government, including the Departments of Justice, Labor, Education, Transportation, Housing and Urban Development, the Social Security Administration and the Office of National Drug Control Policy.
The Division is also responsible for supporting the development and coordination of crosscutting disability and aging data and policies within the Department and other federal agencies.
This division collaborates with Health Care Financing on issues effecting populations who are dually eligible for Medicare and Medicaid and other crosscutting areas.
The Office of Human Services Policy (HSP) is responsible for policy development and coordination, and for the conduct and coordination of research, evaluation, and data on matters relating to poverty, cash and non-cash support for low-income working and non-working families, welfare-to-work strategies, and services for families, children, and youth.
The office works closely with agencies that provide services to low-income populations, particularly the Administration for Children and Families (ACF).
The division's principal areas of focus include: cash and non-cash assistance for working and non-working families, welfare-to-work strategies, cash and non-cash assistance for working and non-working families, welfare-to-work strategies, child support enforcement, and special populations[8] (e.g., immigrants[9]).
Areas include public health emergency preparedness, biomedical research policy, drug safety, food safety, pandemic preparedness, emerging infectious diseases, prescription drug issues, personalized health care advances and related topics.
[14] ASPE also managed major health insurance and income maintenance experiments, and initiated long-term care demonstrations.
In the 1980s, ASPE continued to focus on many significant policy research and analysis activities across HHS programs including: block grant programs, competition-based health care reform, regulatory reform, service delivery experiments, and an outcome-focused strategic planning system.
In the 1990s, ASPE provided leadership for President Bill Clinton’s health care and welfare reform proposals.
In 1998 Congress supplemented ASPE's research budget by $31.4 million specifically for the purpose of studying welfare reform outcomes over a five-year period.
ASPE's analytical efforts have supported several Secretarial and Presidential strategic priorities including: the Affordable Care Act,[16] value-driven healthcare,[17] affordable choices, pandemic influenza preparedness, health information technology (HIT),[18] personalized health care, emergency preparedness, prevention, food import safety, chronic homelessness,[19] disadvantaged youth, and welfare reauthorization.
