- Layoffs and buyouts would reduce Health and Human Services by 20,000 jobs.
- Five of 10 regional offices, not yet designated, will close.
- Many separate agencies will be combined.
The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services said Thursday it would cut 10,000 jobs and close offices in a “dramatic restructuring” designed to cut costs by $1.8 billion. The cuts are focused in health agencies.
The headline on the announcement press release is “HHS announces transformation to make America healthy again,” which is part of Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s push as new secretary of the department.
Combined with early retirement and “Fork in the Road,” which offered buyouts, the restructuring is part of Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency “Workforce Optimization Initiative” and aims to reduce the department from 82,000 to 62,000 full-time employees.
The health side of the department includes agencies monitoring public health, dealing with disease outbreaks, drug approval, health insurance coverage for low-income and elderly Americans, vaccine oversight, pandemic preparedness and response and more.
The plan further calls for restructuring HHS from 28 divisions into 15 new ones, including an Administration for a Healthy America (AHA). The department will also centralize human resources information technology, procurement, external affairs and policy.
Five of the 10 regional offices will close, but there is so far no indication of which will close and which will remain open. The existing regional offices are in Boston, New York City, Philadelphia, Atlanta, Chicago, Dallas, Kansas City, Denver (which includes Utah), San Francisco and Seattle.
While making the agency “more responsive and efficient,” the announcement said “Medicare, Medicaid and other essential health services” will “remain intact.”
“We aren’t just reducing bureaucratic sprawl. We are realigning the organization with its core mission and our new priorities in reversing the chronic disease epidemic,” Kennedy said. “This department will do more — a lot more — at a lower cost to the taxpayer.”
The layoffs were initially reported by The Wall Street Journal.
State health grants cut
The announced layoffs come just days after HHS canceled more than $12 billion in grants to states that would help them track infectious diseases, mental health services, addiction treatment and more.
The New York Times reported that “state health departments began receiving notices on Monday evening that the funds, which were allocated during the COVID-19 pandemic, were being terminated, effective immediately.”
The notices added, “No additional activities can be conducted and no additional costs may be incurred, as it relates to these funds.”
State health officials told the Times that thousands of health department employees and contract workers across the nation could lose their jobs. Some infectious disease teams said they expect deep cuts in staff.
Grants that were canceled include some from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA).
Cuts, mergers and new creations
Among key changes announced in the HHS layoff notice:
- The new Administration for a Healthy America will absorb these existing agencies: the Office of the Assistant Secretary for Health, Health Resources and Services Administration; SAMHSA; Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry; and National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health. The focus areas will include primary care, maternal and child health, mental health, environmental health, HIV/AIDS and workforce development.
- The Administration for Strategic Preparedness and Response will become part of the CDC. The agency handles response for natural disasters and public health emergencies, so the move is expected to strengthen the CDC, “reinforcing its core mission to protect Americans from health threats.”
- A newly-created assistant secretary for enforcement role will oversee the Departmental Appeals Board, Office of Medicare Hearings and Appeals and Office for Civil Rights.
- HHS will merge the Office of the Assistant Secretary for Planning and Evaluation with the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality to create a new Office of Strategy.
- Programs that support older adults and those with disabilities will be assigned to other agencies, including the Administration for Children and Families, the Office of the Assistant Secretary for Planning and Evaluation and the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS). “This reorganization will not impact Medicare and Medicaid services.”
Which 10,000 jobs will disappear?
The Food and Drug Administration will lose about 3,500 full-time employees, but the announcement said it would not affect drug, medical device or food reviewers or impact inspectors.
The CDC will shrink by 2,400 employees.
National Institutes of Health staff will decrease by about 1,200 employees and procurement, human resources and communication across 27 institutes and centers will be centralized.
Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services will decrease by about 300 employees, “with a focus on reducing minor duplication across the agency.”
Informing the employees union
CNN reported that the official reduction in force notice was sent to American Federation of Government Employees union leaders early Thursday.
The likely effective date is May 27 and the affected employees themselves will be notified as early as Friday.
“The reductions are mainly aimed at administrative jobs, including human resources, information technology, procurement and finance, according to the email,” per CNN. “It will also target roles in high-cost regions and employees in areas that have been deemed redundant or duplicative within HHS or across the federal government.”
The notice to the union also asked whether and when it would like to negotiate issues of impact and how the layoffs would be done.