HHS layoffs spark concerns for Meals on Wheels, LIHEAP: What to know

Nearly a quarter of the staff at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services has been fired, leading to widespread confusion and concerns over well-known safety net programs – including Meals on Wheels. 

The layoffs are part of a sweeping overhaul designed to vastly shrink the agencies responsible for protecting and promoting Americans’ health.

"The revolution begins today!" Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. wrote on social media. He later added that "our hearts go out to those who have lost their jobs," but said that the department needs to be "recalibrated" to emphasize disease prevention.

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Who has been laid off from the Department of Health and Human Services? 

Big picture view:

The cuts include researchers, scientists, doctors, support staff and senior leaders, leaving the federal government without many of the key experts who have long guided U.S. decisions on medical research, drug approvals and other issues.

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Many of the jobs are based in the Washington area, but also in Atlanta, where the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is based, and in smaller offices throughout the country.

Some workers were notified via email at 5 a.m., while others found out by standing in long lines to see if their ID badges still got them into the building. 

By the numbers:

The layoffs are expected to shrink HHS to 62,000 positions, lopping off nearly a quarter of its staff — 10,000 jobs through layoffs and another 10,000 workers who took early retirement and voluntary separation offers. 

These include: 

• 3,500 jobs at the FDA, which inspects and sets safety standards for medications, medical devices and foods.
• 2,400 jobs at the CDC, which monitors for infectious disease outbreaks and works with public health agencies nationwide.
• 1,200 jobs at the NIH, the world’s leading medical research agency.
• 300 jobs at the CMS, which oversees the Affordable Care Act marketplace, Medicare and Medicaid.

At the NIH, cuts included at least four directors of the NIH’s 27 institutes and centers who were put on administrative leave, and nearly entire communications staffs were terminated, a senior agency leader told The Associated Press. 

At least nine high-level CDC directors were placed on leave and were also offered reassignments to the Indian Health Service.

RELATED: Mass layoffs begin at HHS, CDC, NIH, FDA

HHS said layoffs are expected to save $1.8 billion annually — about 0.1% — from the department’s $1.7 trillion budget, most of which is spent on Medicare and Medicaid health insurance coverage for millions of Americans.

Meals on Wheels cuts

What we know:

According to NPR, Meals on Wheels, the program that delivers 216 million meals a year to older and disabled people, is largely funded by the Administration for Community Living, or ACL, which reportedly lost at least 40% of its staff Tuesday. 

What we don't know:

It’s unclear how the mass layoffs will impact Meals on Wheels services across the country. 

What they're saying:

Alison Barkoff, who served as the ACL director under the Biden administration, told NPR that ACL programs serve "literally tens of millions of older adults, people with disabilities and their families and caregivers."

"There's no way to have these RIFs and not impact the programs and the people who rely on them," she added. 

HHS has not responded to LiveNow from FOX's request for comment. 

LIHEAP staff fired

In addition to the major ACL layoffs, every employee at the Division of Energy Assistance also lost their jobs. NPR reports that the office runs the Low-Income Home Energy Assistance Program, or LIHEAP, which assists 5.9 million low-income households in paying heating and cooling bills and paying for home repairs that raise energy efficiency.

Staffers expressed concerns over whether the program will continue when funding runs out at the end of September. 

State, local health departments also face cuts

Dig deeper:

Cuts are already beginning at state and local health departments as a result of an HHS move last week to pull back more than $11 billion in COVID-19-related money. 

Some health departments have identified hundreds of jobs that stand to be eliminated, "some of them overnight, some of them are already gone," said Lori Tremmel Freeman, chief executive of the National Association of County and City Health Officials.

The other side:

A coalition of state attorneys general sued the Trump administration on Tuesday, arguing the cuts are illegal, would reverse progress on the opioid crisis and would throw mental health systems into chaos.

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