From CNBC: 2025-04-04 16:10:00

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services cut jobs from its minority health office and other divisions under Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s plan to slash 10,000 jobs at HHS. CMS oversees health insurance programs for 160 million Americans, with just 300 job cuts at CMS but more at other agencies. Kennedy’s plan will reinstate some personnel and programs affected by the cuts.

CMS acting Administrator Stephanie Carlton detailed the impacted offices, including the Office of Minority Health, which works to eliminate health disparities. The office was authorized by the Affordable Care Act and may be shuttered against the law. CMS will appoint a new director for the office but did not confirm if the current director, Dr. Martin Mendoza, was impacted by the cuts.

The Office of Program Operations & Local Engagement, responsible for implementing Medicare and Medicaid programs, was heavily impacted by the cuts. Other affected offices include the grants and contracts office and the Medicare-Medicaid Coordination Office. CMS will retain in-house teams for communication, human resources, and IT, which was unaffected due to sensitive data sets.

Kennedy’s restructuring of HHS comes amid a measles outbreak and bird flu spread. The U.S. FDA is suspending bird flu testing due to staff cuts. CMS did not immediately respond to a request for comment regarding the job cuts. Dr. Mehmet Oz was confirmed by the Senate to run CMS, with layoffs affecting a quarter of the federal health department’s workforce.



Read more at CNBC: CMS makes job cuts as RKF Jr. guts HHS