Federal Regulating Agencies

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) is recognized as the primary federal agency for protecting the safety and health of people in the United States. The CDC forms partnerships throughout the United States and the rest of the world to protect and promote wellness. It employs 8,500 people in 170 occupations and consists of 12 centers. The CDC mission is to promote health and quality of life by preventing and controlling disease, injury, and disability. Established in 1946 as the Communicable Disease Center, the CDC now has an annual budget of $3.7 billion. Working with the states and other partners, the CDC provides a system of health surveillance to monitor and prevent disease outbreaks, including bioterrorism. The CDC implements disease prevention strategies and maintains national health statistics.

Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS)

Formerly known as Health Care Financing Administration (HCFA), Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) runs Medicare and Medicaid, two national health care programs that benefit approximately 75 million Americans. In conjunction with the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA), they also run the State Children's Health Insurance Program (SCHIP), which is expected to cover nearly 10 million uninsured children. CMS regulates all but research laboratory testing in the United States. Each year $360 billion is spent on Medicare, Medicaid, and SCHIP. CMS, established in 1977, had a 2002 budget of $374.7 billion and over 45,000 employees.

Joint Commission on Accreditation of Health Care Organizations (JCAHO)

The Joint Commission on Accreditation of Health Care Organizations (JCAHO) is an independent, not-for-profit organization established over 50 years ago. Its governing board includes physicians, nurses, and consumers. JCAHO sets the standards by which health care quality is measured in the United States and around the world. Its mission is to improve quality and safety of the care provided to the public by evaluating more than 17,000 health care organizations at least every three years. JCAHO provides health care accreditation and related services that support performance improvement in health care organizations.

National Institutes of Health (NIH)

The NIH is one of the foremost medical research centers in the world. It began in 1887 as the Laboratory of Hygiene. Its mission is to pursue knowledge on all living systems and to transfer that knowledge into the extension of healthy life and to reduce the effects of disability and illness. NIH both conducts and supports research as well as developing and [Page 209]supporting medical libraries. NIH supports around 35,000 research projects, employs over 17,000 people, and has an annual budget of nearly $21 billion.

Food and Drug Administration (FDA)

Established in 1906, the work of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is a blend of both science and law. The FDA's mission is to protect and promote the public health by assisting safe and effective medical products to reach the market in a timely fashion. The FDA also monitors these products for continued safety after they are in use. The FDA assures the safety of foods, cosmetics, pharmaceuticals, and biological products. The annual budget is over $1 billion, and the agency employs nearly 10,000 people.

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