The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) on Thursday announced plans to radically restructure the department, cutting thousands of full-time jobs, centralizing units, and prioritizing ending the country’s chronic illness epidemic. HHS said the restructuring will save taxpayers $1.8 million a year.
Despite the massive changes, HHS said the restructuring will make the agency more responsive and efficient, while ensuring that Medicare, Medicaid, and other essential health services 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,” HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. said in the announcement. “This department will do more–a lot more–at a lower cost to the taxpayer.”
Kennedy said the restructuring, which will also centralize human resources, information technology, procurement, external affairs, and policy, is in accordance with President Trump’s Executive Order, “Implementing the President’s ‘Department of Government Efficiency’ Workforce Optimization Initiative.”
Among the changes:
Eliminate 10,000 full-time employees: When combined with other efforts at the agency, including early retirement and initiatives by the Department of Government Efficiency, the restructuring will lead to a total downsize from 82,000 to 62,000 full-time employees.
In a fact sheet, HHS said the cuts include 3,500 employees from the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), 2,400 employees from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), 1,200 employees from the National Institutes of Health (NIH), and 300 employees from the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS).
Consolidate and create new divisions: Kennedy said he plans to streamline the functions of HHS because the 28 divisions contain many redundant units.
The restructuring plan will consolidate them into 15 new divisions, including a new Administration for a Healthy America (AHA) which combines multiple agencies into a new, unified entity. Those agencies include the Office of the Assistant Secretary for Health (OASH), Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA), Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA), Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry (ATSDR), and National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH).
Kennedy said the centralized agency will improve coordination of health resources for low-income Americans and will focus on areas including, primary care, maternal and child health, mental health, environmental health, HIV/AIDS, and workforce development. Transferring SAMHSA to AHA will increase operational efficiency and ensure programs are carried out because it will break down artificial divisions between similar programs, he said.
The Administration for Strategic Preparedness and Response (ASPR), which is responsible for national disaster and public health emergency response, will now fall under the CDC, which HHS said will reinforce its core mission to protect Americans from health threats.
A new position, Assistant Secretary for Enforcement, will oversee the Departmental Appeals Board (DAB), Office of Medicare Hearings and Appeals (OMHA), and Office for Civil Rights (OCR) to combat waste, fraud, and abuse in federal health programs.
The Assistant Secretary for Planning and Evaluation (ASPE) will merge with the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) to create the Office of Strategy to enhance research that informs the Secretary’s policies and improves the effectiveness of federal health programs.
The Administration of Community Living, which provides critical programs that support older adults and people with disabilities, will be integrated into other HHS agencies, including the Administration for Children and Families (ACF), ASPE, and CMS. Kennedy said the reorganization will not impact Medicare and Medicaid services.
HHS will also cut the number of regional offices from 10 to five.
Implement a new HHS priority: The overhaul will allow HHS to focus on a new priority to end America’s epidemic of chronic illness by focusing on safe, wholesome food, clean water, and the elimination of environmental toxins.
“Over time, bureaucracies like HHS become wasteful and inefficient even when most of their staff are dedicated and competent civil servants,” Kennedy said. “This overhaul will be a win-win for taxpayers and for those that HHS serves. That’s the entire American public because our goal is to Make America Healthy Again.”