HHS Announces Reorganization and 25% Reduction in Staff

(March 31, 2025) Last week, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) announced a major reorganization and a 25 percent reduction in its workforce.  The plan will eliminate 20,000 full-time employees.  The goals of the plan, as outlined in an HHS fact sheet, are "not only to reduce costs through cuts and reorganization, but to also make the organization more efficient and responsive to the needs of Americans."  The reorganization plan will include closure of five of the 10 HHS regional offices and consolidation of various divisions.  HHS has not identified the regional offices that will be closed; however, based on an earlier announcement regarding other HHS offices, it is anticipated that the Region 2 office, which serves New York, New Jersey, Puerto Rico, and the Virgin Islands, will be closed.

The Food and Drug Administration and the Centers for Disease Control will experience the largest reductions in personnel.  Significantly, under the reorganization plan, the Administration for Community Living (ACL), which supports programs serving older adults and people of all ages with disabilities, will be eliminated.  ACL programs will be split across the Administration for Children and Families (ACF), Assistant Secretary for Planning and Evaluation (ASPE), and Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS). It is unclear at this time where key programs funded by the Older Americans Act will be housed.

More information from LeadingAge National is available here.

Contact: Karen Lipson, klipson@leadingageny.org.