‘We will consolidate:’ JFK on HHS layoffs
10,000 job cuts expected at HHS as part of the major restructuring.
FOX – 5 NY
Federal agencies that influence or finance how Americans get health care in the face of generalized changes in the plans of the Secretary of Health Robert F. Kennedy Jr. To eliminate 10,000 jobs of the American Department of Health and Social Services.
When combined with previous buyouts and voluntary departures, the overhaul will eliminate approximately 1 in 4 out of 4 and save $ 1.8 billion each year, said HHS.
These targeted federal agencies supervise the way the nation pays for health care for older Americans and the poor. They also look for infectious diseasess and threats of public health. The overhaul will also make changes to the agency that examines the safety of prescription drugs, food and medical devices.
Here is how targeted cut agencies have an impact on health care that Americans receive:
What do RFK JR’s HHS Cups mean for FDA?
The Food and Drug Administration oversees prescription drugs and medical devices in the United States. HHS has announced that restructuring would terminate 3,500 FDA employees full time.
The announcement comes one day after the Senate confirmed the doctor of Johns Hopkins, Marty Makary, as a commissioner of the FDA, he will therefore be Makary’s work to maintain agencies with leaner staff.
HHS said in a press release that discounts will not affect the approvals of drugs or medical devices. Pharmaceutical companies, manufacturers of medical aircraft and other industry organizations pay “user fees” that help the FDA finish Journals in a timely time of new drugs and devices.
But the impacts at the time of drug approvals and devices can be inevitable, said JP Leider, director of the Center for Public Health Systems at the University of Minnesota.
A federal worker who is technically classified as office or administrative could also be an integral part of the provision of these services, he said. The reduction of workers like this could indirectly have an impact on drugs, medical devices and food.
Other workers may also have to double their workloads To compensate for the cuts, which could slow down overall productivity.
“Putting everyone into the same system means that there will be slowdowns,” said him. “That’s one of these changes.”
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How will it affect food?
The job cuts could hinder the FDA’s ability to tackle advanced problems such as the use of artificial intelligence or make food supply of the country safer and more nutritious, said Peter Pitts, a former FDA associate commissioner.
“The announcement is more like a ready, fire and goal proposal,” said Pitts, co-founder of the Center for Medicine in the Public Interest, a non-profit research and education organization.
Kennedy said he wanted to focus on the country’s food supply to use nutrition as a means of improving human health, but such an ambitious goal “requires no fewer people, this requires more people,” said Pitts.
HHS officials have not immediately said how the changes will allow Kennedy to achieve objectives to make the food supply of the country healthier. Earlier this month, Kennedy launched a database On the FDA website, which allows people to search for chemicals in food.
The agency said it would combine five existing HHS divisions which focus on professional security, preventive medicine, drug addiction, toxic substances and overall health. The new entity, which will be appointed the administration of a healthy America, will coordinate chronic care, disease prevention and health resources for low -income Americans. The divisions will focus on primary care, maternal and child health, mental health, environmental health, HIV / AIDS and labor.
I am on Medicare or Medicaid. Do I have to worry?
Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services supervise federal health programs for adults 65 and over, low -income families, people with disabilities and children. The agency will reduce around 300 employees, but HHS said that reorganization “will not have an impact on Medicare and Medicaid services”.
However, the plans of the congress Additional cuts which, according to the defenders, could eliminate the coverage For some low -income Americans.
In February, the house Adopted a budgetary resolution This provided for $ 880 billion in savings and programs expenses under the Congress Committee Supervising Medicaid. The Senate has proposed less expensive discounts, but the defense of concerns of significant changes in Medicaid, the federal health insurance program which covers nearly 1 in 5 Americans.
Does this compromise CDC research, NIH?
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention will reduce 2,400 positions. In addition, the administration of strategic preparation and response, which currently operates in the American public health service, will go to the CDC.
The National Institutes of Health, which finances biomedical research through subsidies and programs, will eliminate 1,200 jobs. HHS said the cuts will be made by rationalizing purchases, human resources and communications in its 27 institutes and centers.
Theider is concerned about the way these cuts will affect the next generation of scientists. The NIH has “extremely impactful” for research and innovation in the private and public sectors, and without the financing of the agency, young people may not be motivated or capable of finding entry level jobs that could launch their scientific career, said theider.
“It has been this idea that for decades, we have been a world leader in science and without the NIH continues to advance this pipeline, it will be really difficult for young scientists with a brilliant spirit of doing this job in the United States,” said Leider.