The federal Department of Health and Human Services has announced a major restructuring of its operations.  The changes include:

  • Terminating an additional 10,000 of the agency’s employees, over and above 10,000 employee reduction that already has taken place, thereby reducing its staff from 82,000 to 62,000 full-time employees. The terminations include:
    • 300 full-time employees at CMS, with HHS noting that this “…will not impact Medicare and Medicaid.”
    • 3500 at the FDA, with HHS explaining that this reduction “…will not affect drug, medical device, or food reviewers, nor will it impact inspectors.”
    • 1200 at the NIH.
    • 2400 at the CDC.
  • Reducing its annual spending by $1.8 billion.
  • Reducing from 28 to 15 divisions.
  • Reducing from ten regional offices to five.
  • Creating a new Administration for a Healthy America (AHA) that will combine the Office of the Assistant Secretary for Health, Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA), Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA), Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry, and National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) into a new, unified entity.
  • Transferring to the CDC the Administration for Strategic Preparedness and Response (ASPR).  HHS explains that with staff reductions at the CDC, the agency will “…focus on returning to its core mission of preparing for and responding to epidemics and outbreaks.”
  • Creating a new Assistant Secretary for Enforcement to oversee the Departmental Appeals Board, Office of Medicare Hearings and Appeals, and Office for Civil Rights.
  • Merging the Assistant Secretary for Planning and Evaluation (ASPE) with the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) to create the Office of Strategy.
  • Reorganizing the Administration for Community Living by integrating programs that support older adults and people with disabilities into other HHS agencies, including the Administration for Children and Families, ASPE, and CMS.

Learn more from this HHS news release and an accompanying fact sheet.