Mary e. Employees of the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) outside the Switzer Memorial Building said that the Trump administration fired employees in the Disease Control and Prevention Center and Food and Drug Administration, as it was planning to cut 10,000 jobs in HHS in Washington, DC, US, 1 April, 2025.
Kevin Lamark | Roots
Robert f. Kennedy Junior Overhal The Department of Health and Human Services involves deep cuts for many divisions that help CNBC learned to protect and improve the health of minority and underscribed population and eliminate health inequalities in the US.
The Health and Human Services Secretary, Kennedy, has crossed at least seven minority health offices across the department, who had requested oblivion to speak independently. HHS has placed an important part of workers in those offices, or in some cases all of them, with their directors, people said.
The affected units include minority health HHS office and National Institute on Minority Health and Health Honor, or NimhdCuts also hit offices with Food and Drug Administration, Center for Disease Control and Prevention, Center for Medicare and Medicade Services, Health Resources and Services Administrations, and Drug Consumption and Drug Consumption and Mental Health Services Administration.
Health policy experts told CNBC that deep cuts for those divisions could widen existing health inequalities in the US, in years of progress towards addressing them. Over time, it can already spoil health results for younger groups, threating overall public health, can increase the cost of stress and health care in the US health care system.
Research Professor of Health Law, Policy and Management at Boston University, Dr. Stephanie Atater de Cuba, Dr. स्टेफ़नी एटिंगर डे क्यूबा, बोस्टन यूनिवर्सिटी के रिसर्च प्रोफेसर, सीएनबीसी ने कहा, “इसके नकारात्मक स्वास्थ्य प्रभाव होंगे, जाहिर है, उन समूहों के लिए, जिन पर वे ध्यान केंद्रित कर रहे हैं, इसलिए नस्लीय और जातीय अल्पसंख्यक हैं, लेकिन मुझे लगता है कि कहानी में जो चूक गया है, वह अंततः हम सभी को प्रभावित करता है, कोई फर्क नहीं पड़ता कि आपकी पृष्ठभूमि क्या है, बोस्टन यूनिवर्सिटी में स्वास्थ्य कानून, नीति And Management Research Professor Dr.
“This is not a zero-zodiac game. So I think it is deeply disturbing for me, because we are going to hurt people,” he said. “It becomes worse for everyone by reducing or cutting employees from these offices.”
The Trump administration cannot completely close the affected offices, which will happen Be against the law Since he was authorized by the Affordable Care Act more than a decade ago, people said. The exact fate of each office and NIH institute is not clear, he said.
Brandin Churchill, Professor of Public Administration and Policy at the American University, said the administration has expected to at least “narrow the scope” of NIMHD and agency offices, which curb their rights and limit resources.
Health inequalities as cuts remain a major challenge in the US, not only colored people but also rural inhabitants, low -income communities and disabled persons, many among other groups. These communities often face worse health consequences – such as low life expectancy and high rate of infant mortality and chronic disease – and more limited access to care and other resources than the American population.
The Covid-19 epidemic deepened many of these intervals, stating how long American history and systemic issues such as poverty and racism contribute to uneven health results across the country.
Health policy experts emphasized that addressing those inequalities strengthens overall public health, as healthy communities improve results for all. It can also relieve a huge economic burden on America: A 2023 funds funded by NIMHD It was found that the price of racial and ethnic health inequalities is $ 451 billion to the US economy in 2018.
US Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Junior commented on 26 February 2025 during a cabinet meeting organized by President Donald Trump at the White House in Washington, DC.
Andrew Harnik | Getty images
Kennedy is consolidating the divisions and killing 10,000 jobs in HHS, $ 1.7 trillion agency It takes care of vaccines and other drugs, scientific research, public health infrastructure, epidemic preparation, and food and tobacco products. HHS manages the health care funded by the government for millions of Americans-including senior, disabled people and low-oriented patients who rely on the markets of Medicare, Medicade and Affordable Care Act.
Kennedy plans to create a new HHS agency called The Administration for a Healthy America, which will add many existing offices. This includes HRSA, SAMHSA, Assistant Secretary’s Office for Health, Agency for toxins and Disease Registry, and National Institutes for Professional Safety and Health.
According to several reports, a leak 64-print initial budget document also indicates that HHS office minority health belongs to that new agency. But the proposal, which will reduce the HHS budget by one third or about $ 40 billion, will require Congress’s approval.
HHS did not immediately respond to the remarks request.
How RKF Junior affects minority health offices
While the width of the cutback varies in agencies within HHS, minority health agencies in departments will now have only a fraction of their pre -size.
All 40 staff members of the minority health of the CMS office were closed according to the people. CMS has planned to appoint a new director for that unit, but the current director has not resigned from the role, CNBC first Informed,
The office works with local and federal partners to eliminate inequalities in health coverage, aimed at ensuring that minority and undested population Medicare, Medicade and Cheap Care Act can use the market schemes. It also does research and analysis to help in low cost and reduce chronic diseases incidence and severity in the US
On March 19, 2025, Woodlone, an air of the Center for Medicare and Medicade Services Building in Maryland.
Kayla Bartakowski | Getty images
Almost all the employees were cut in the CDC’s minority health office, according to the people. To follow the letter of law, the Trump administration is considering reorganizing the unit and the women’s health office so that each office is at least one of the directors or a very small group of employees, people said.
The agency’s office works to create programs to promote the research of health inequalities in the CDC of Minority Health and to create programs to improve the health of racial and ethnic minority groups.
In the office of FDA’s minority health and health equity, all employees were cut off, people said. The future of that office is not clear.
The unit focuses on efforts such as enhancing clinical testing variety, how to affect various population of medical products, and improve transparency such as creating health resources to suit a series of languages and cultures.
According to people, no employee is left with health equity in the office of HRSA’s health equity after trimmed. This office leads to the access, quality and efforts to reduce inequalities in health care through HRSA, which focuses on those who are unlicensed, geographically isolated, or economic and medically weak.
The future of that office is also not clear, in addition to the Trump administration’s plan to turn HRSA to Kennedy’s new agency.
The same goes to samhsa Behavioral health officeAll the remaining employees were seen according to the people, except for a new, recently hired director. The office also had a activist on retirement and probation which was placed on administrative leave.
The office works to ensure that SAMHSA resources for mental health and drug use treatment, including grant programs and other initiatives, are equally distributed to all communities and population.
Broadly one -third of employees have moved to NIMHD, some of which were closed and others who were left due to early retirement and purchase, people said. He said that some workers were placed on holiday on probation several weeks before Kennedy started cuts.
The Deputy Director of the institute accepted a proposal to become acting director in the short term, people said. NIMHD, which is part of the National Institute of Health, works to reduce health inequalities through conducting research and developing new programs and developing new programs.
The HHS Office of Minority Health also faced the cut, although it is not clear how many employees were affected, people said. This office leads federal efforts to improve health results for racial and ethnic minority groups, develop policies and programs and improve health results to provide money.
Cuts may have a permanent effect
Professor Terry McGawn, Professor of the Cuny Graduate School of Public Health and Health Policy, said that NIMHD and offices cut in offices would take several months to one year before seeing direct results from the cuts in offices.
Employees of the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Mary E. The Switzer is standing outside the Memorial Building, it was reported that the Trump administration fired the employees in the disease control and prevention centers and the food and drug administration, as it was planning to cut 10,000 jobs in HHS on Washington, DC, US, April 1, 2025.
Kevin Lamark | Roots
But the deduction of employees can cause the US defeat on significant data, which is the cornerstone to address health inequalities, according to Samantha Artiga, Director of Rensitive Equity and Health Policy Program in the Health Policy Research Organization, KFF.
Artiga stated that data and research are essential for pinpointing where inequalities exist, understanding their root causes, preparing effective solutions and monitoring progress over time. For example, data may suggest that some groups experience worse surgical results or wait for a long time in the emergency chamber, or if the vaccination program is being distributed equally in areas.
Artiga said, “Without focusing data and research, they may remain ignored and unknowingly, which make blind spots,” Artiga said, America would eventually have to rebuild that knowledge in future.
The fate of several grants providing NIMHD and some offices is not clear. He is also involved $ 11.6 million in recent grant awards From HHS office to minority health office to 20 organizations for the initiative of four years, to identify strategies that increase the use of preventive health services in communities.
But if the offices cut that funding back or stopped it completely, it could also weaken the country’s ability to reduce health inequalities, said Ateinger de Cuba of Boston University.
Community-based organizations rely on federal funds to give various groups culturally sewn, and the programs can be forced to return or close. Grants loss can also prevent research, innovation and public health intervention by external institutions, such as universities, health care systems and social service organizations.
“Philanthropy is not able to step up for a long time at this stage. The only actor who is capable of doing so is the government.”
Research Professor Nathan Boucher at Duke’s Sanford School of Public Policy said the deduction “will degrade any efforts of these big government organizations for any kind of accountability when it comes to protecting those who they help and serve every day.”
While Kennedy has stated that his deduction focuses on creating HHS more “responsible and efficient”, Boucher said that minority health offices can be targeted.
Boucher said, “I really feel that it is an efficiency argument to be capable of these minority health offices, as it allows you to identify and target some real problem areas and use the taxpayer dollar in the most efficient way,” said Baucher.
