US HHS laying off 10,000 more workers, restructuring agencies - India Travel Times

WASHINGTON, Mar 29: The US Department of Health and Human Services is reducing its headcount by a quarter, Secretary Robert F Kennedy Jr. has annnounced. He said the plan is to make the healthcare agencies more efficient. However, the details are not coming forth, with the result that chaos and uncertainty rule the roost in the HHS at present.

The Department will lay off 10,000 more workers and shut down certain agencies (Individual notices are being sent). It had already given the golden handshake to another 10,000 under the DOGE plan. The HHS had a total workforce of 82,000, which will now be 62,000. DOGE had also shown the door to 5,200 probationary workers at HHS last month as part of the across the board Federal cuts notified by the OPM.

The umbrella Department mainly oversees administration of the health agencies like the NIH, which are otherwise autonomous. The HHS has a massive budget of a $1.7tn. The workforce reduction will save $1.8 billion per year, the department claimed.

Of the 13 agencies under the HHS umbrella, the major ones are the Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), National Institutes of Health (NIH), Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and the Centres for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS). The CMS, dealing with community services and affordable treatment schemes, spends a lot of funds across the country. The casualty of restructuring will be CMS. About 137 million older and low-income Americans badly needed the healthcare.

In the restructuring 28 branches of the department would be consolidated into 15, Kennedy said. Human resources and IT will be axed. So also HIV and minority health units will be eliminated. Divisions at the CDC dealing with global health, domestic HIV prevention and injury prevention like in gun violence will be dismantled, the HHS said.

The services that are likely to be closed also include addiction services and community health centres which are responsible for funding the various community health services.

Kennedy's restructuring plan involves reducing the autonomy of the health agencies under the department like the National Institutes of Health (NIH), Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and the Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (CDCs) and centralising many of their operations and activities.

The department has prepared a firing list of 3,500 FDA workers, 2,400 at the CDC, 1,200 at the NIH and 300 jobs at the Centres for Medicare that will save $1.8 billion a year.

New agency to be created

Instead, a new Administration for a Healthy America will be formed. The priority will be to end “America’s epidemic of chronic illness by focusing on safe, wholesome food, clean water, and the elimination of environmental toxins,” a Kennedy statement said.

The HHS said the new Administration for a Healthy America will combine the Office of the Assistant Secretary for Health, the Health Resources and Services Administration, the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, the Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry and the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health.

The Administration for Strategic Preparedness and Response ( health emergency) will move under the CDC and the Administration for Community Living (older adults) will be joined elsewhere.

Critics say the funds and job cuts and the agencies shutdowns would seriously impair the ability of the Government to look after the basic healthcare needs of the people. Currently, there is a threat of measles and bird flu epidemics in several States, also impacting the national economy. It is also said that with the workforce reduction public health responsibilities will gradually slip into private hands.

Employees began receiving notice on Friday that the new phase of job cut at the HHS will be in the administrative branches of the department.

Last Thursday Kennedy described his department as an inefficient “sprawling bureaucracy.”

“I want to promise you now that we’re going to do more with less,” Kennedy posted on social media.

Democrats and health professionals have warned that Kennedy's plan would jeopardise Americans' health.