There are two questions regarding U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Robert F. Kennedy’s decision to cut 10,000 jobs from the HHS that I think many industry officials and consumers are asking:
1) Who will benefit from the $1.8 billion in taxpayer savings? All taxpayers? The middle class? The billionaires? Remember: One of President Donald Trump’s main campaign promises was to lower the corporate tax to 15%. That requires savings elsewhere.
And 2) Will there be a major ripple effect across the health care industry as a result of these job cuts? The FDA, CDC, and Centers for Medicare and Medicaid are also seeing job cuts as a result of this.
The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services will eliminate 10,000 jobs as part of a major restructuring plan. The agency made the announcement Thursday.
The agency is responsible for monitoring infectious diseases, inspecting foods and hospitals and overseeing health insurance programs for nearly half the country. The agency says it will decrease its workforce from 82,000 to 62,000 positions.
Thursday’s announcement by the agency responsible for monitoring infectious diseases, inspecting foods and hospitals and overseeing health insurance programs for nearly half the country says its workforce will shrink from 82,000 to 62,000 positions, including another 10,000 who are taking early retirement and buyout offers.
The cuts will mostly affect the public health agencies:
- the Food and Drug Administration, responsible for setting standards for Americans’ foods and medications, will shed 3,500 workers
- the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, which tracks infectious disease outbreaks, will cut 2,400 positions.
- the National Institutes for Health, the world’s leading public health research agency, will lose 1,200 people.
- the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, which oversees health coverage for older and poor Americans, will shed 300 jobs.