HHS Announces Sweeping Cuts That Threaten Access to Critical Services

Earlier today, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) announced an alarming plan to shrink and restructure the agency in ways that would put access to critical services and supports at risk for millions of Americans. The plan continues DOGE’s ongoing efforts to advance the Trump administration’s agenda of making significant cuts across the federal government.

Mass Layoffs, Office Closures, and a Radical Restructure at HHS
Among the troubling initiatives are:

Mass Layoffs: 10,000 additional HHS employees would lose their jobs under the overhaul. The agency notes that when combined with other recent workforce reduction efforts, these firings would result in a total agency downsizing of 20,000 people—”from 82,000 to 62,000 full-time employees.”

Reducing HHS Access Nationwide: HHS intends to close half of its regional offices, reducing the total number from 10 to five and severely eliminating access to agency personnel across the country.

Changing Critical HHS Functions: HHS wants to establish a new Administration for a Healthy America (AHA). It would consolidate multiple, disparate agencies and focus on areas including “Primary Care, Maternal and Child Health, Mental Health, Environmental Health, HIV/AIDS, and Workforce development.” Similarly, a new Assistant Secretary for Enforcement would oversee the Medicare Hearings and Appeals (OMHA) and Office for Civil Rights (OCR) “to combat waste, fraud, and abuse in federal health programs,” a potentially sharp departure from their current portfolios.

https://www.medicarerights.org/medicare-watch/2025/03/27/hhs-announces-sweeping-cuts-that-threaten-access-to-critical-services