Is This the End of American Healthcare As We Know It?! HHS Hit by Massive Layoffs!

Healthcare Uh Finds a Way?

Well folks it seems like things are getting shaken up over at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS). I've heard they're planning some pretty big changes and by 'big,' I mean potentially laying off up to 10,000 people! Ten thousand! It's like the early days of Microsoft all over again but instead of streamlining software they're uh streamlining… lives? As I always say 'Success is a lousy teacher. It seduces smart people into thinking they can't lose.' But I am not sure about this though…

When Bureaucracy Gets a Haircut

Apparently this is all part of Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s grand plan to remake HHS. He wants to consolidate agencies create a new office called the Administration for a Healthy America (sounds like a reality TV show doesn't it?) and generally trim the fat. Or as he puts it do 'more with less.' Now I'm all for efficiency – Microsoft wouldn’t be where it is today if we hadn't streamlined operations. But cutting so many jobs at once? That's like deleting the system32 folder and hoping Windows still runs smoothly. It is just scary…

Measles and Mayhem!

Senator Patty Murray is worried that these cuts will have serious consequences especially when natural disasters strike or infectious diseases like the measles start spreading. She even joked about renaming it the 'Department of Disease.' Dark humor but with this new announcement it seems like everything is getting renamed or downsized or both! I am not sure if I find this funny.

Funding Follies

And it's not just the federal level. State and local health departments are also feeling the pinch with over $11 billion in COVID 19 related funds being pulled back. Lori Tremmel Freeman from the National Association of County and City Health Officials says some health departments have already eliminated hundreds of jobs. 'Some of them overnight some of them are already gone,' she said. It's like pulling the plug on a ventilator – except the ventilator is the entire public health system.

Union Blues

Adding insult to injury President Trump decided to strip workers of their collective bargaining rights at HHS and other agencies. Some Democratic lawmakers are not pleased calling it a 'brazen attempt' that gives of all people Elon Musk more power. Which is quite interesting to hear. But the truth is I'm a little worried that the government's ability to serve the American people is being weakened.

Doing More with Less? I Have Heard That Before

So what's the bottom line? HHS is about to shrink significantly with major cuts at the FDA CDC NIH and CMS. Kennedy says the department's $1.7 trillion budget 'has failed to improve the health of Americans.' I will repeat myself again 'Success is a lousy teacher. It seduces smart people into thinking they can't lose.' I just hope this isn't a case of throwing the baby out with the bathwater. Only time will tell if this grand restructuring actually leads to a healthier America or if it's just another example of penny wise pound foolish policy making. I hope they have a good debugger.