Introduced

HHS Announces Transformation to Make America Healthy Again

Department of Health and Human Services
Agency Directive
Agency Directive

Policy Type: Agency Directive

An internal instruction issued by a government agency outlining policies, procedures, or actions to be followed by agency employees. While not legally binding outside the agency, these directives guide agency operations and decision-making.

Who It Impacts: Employees and divisions within the issuing federal agency. These directives guide how staff enforce regulations, allocate resources, and interpret laws. They may also affect industries regulated by the agency.

Who Is Not Impacted: The general public and businesses are not directly bound by agency directives, though these policies may indirectly influence enforcement practices that affect them.

Date Enacted
March 27, 2025
Last Updated
April 15, 2025
Policy Type
Healthcare Delivery, Services & Quality
Food & Nutrition
Healthcare Coverage
Cash or Economic Assistance
Public Health
Social Safety Net
Research and Data
Immigrant Health
Health and Disability
LGBTQI+ Health
Global Health
Children and Families

Summary

HHS announced a significant workforce reduction and major organizational restructuring: Termination of an additional 10,000 full-time employees (down to 62,000 from 82,000 in January 2025), a consolidation of its 28 divisions into 15, and its regional offices from 10 to 5, and a new Administration for Healthy America (AHA).

Impact Analysis

Staffing cuts of this magnitude will have profound implications across HHS’s mission areas. While health equity focused programs had already been halted through prior directives, this action fully eliminates offices such as the Office of Infectious Diseases and HIV/AIDS Policy and the Office of Minority Health, which address structural and social drivers of health. Staffing for the Administration for Children and Families dropped nearly 40% within three months, which will effectively hinder or halt vital programs.

Status

Take Institutional Action

Healthcare institutions should seek transparency from the Administration and Congress on the impacts of these actions, and work in local and state coalitions to better understand and communicate about the impacts they are experiencing, or are expecting.

Support storybanking efforts, being done by elected officials, by former federal workers, and advocacy organizations, to capture the harmful impacts of these cuts. Utilize data about the harmful impacts of these funding cuts in advocacy efforts, such as from those capturing workforce impacts and economic injury.

Associated or Derivative Policies

EO 14210, Implementing the President's "Department of Government Efficiency" Workforce Optimization Initiative

Policy Prior to 2025

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