Aviation at Medicare & Medicaid Services Building Center, Woodlawn, Maryland, March 19th.
Kayla Bartkowski | Getty Images
The Medicare & Medicaid Services center has significantly reduced jobs from the Minority Health Bureau and other departments, CNBC has learned that Robert F. Kennedy Jr. is overturning the U.S. Health Service.
During a virtual all-hand meeting with employees on Friday, CMS deputy manager Stephanie Carlton detailed some of the agency’s specific offices affected by Kennedy’s broader plan to restructure the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS).
CNBC saw the transcript of the first internal meeting on CMS as HHS employees began receiving notifications on Tuesday about whether they lost their jobs as part of the cut.
Kennedy’s plan includes cutting 10,000 jobs at HHS. This includes 300 people only in CMS, but far more in other institutions. CMS oversees health insurance programs for 160 million Americans, along with other important medical functions. The Trump administration has sought to downplay the impact of government spending on popular Medicare programs.
But Kennedy said Thursday that some staff and programs from various federal agencies affected by his drastic cuts will recover “as we make mistakes.”
Carlton on Friday did not indicate whether CMS employees would be back, but said, “I think the painful part of the (cut) that affects the people we care about will end.”
“I don’t want to make a promise that nothing will happen, but these are definitely things I know,” she told workers, referring to the agency cuts. She said layoffs aren’t easy, but emphasized that CMS leadership must achieve agency missions and the efficiency of the overall HHS.
She added that Dr. Mehmet Oz’s paperwork should be completed later on Friday, the day after the Senate confirmed that it would run the CMS. Oz, a celebrity television host and former US Senate candidate, hopes to hold another all-hand call on Monday. Once known as the “American Doctor,” Oz is more known for his suspicious promotions in supplements and hormones that are not supported by scientific evidence.
The cuts in jobs across the HHS add to the roughly 10,000 employees who have chosen to leave the department since President Donald Trump took office through a voluntary split offer. Together, they will be reduced by the Federal Health Administration by evacuating about a quarter of the workforce, reducing it to 62,000 employees.
The Kennedy restructuring occurs as the US has been working on one of the worst measles outbreaks for over 20 years, with avian influenza spreading to wild birds around the world, causing outbreaks in poultry and dairy cows in the US, with several recent human cases. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has suspended efforts to improve bird flu testing for milk, cheese and pet food, as large-scale staff cuts at the agency have been cut, Reuters reported Thursday.
The CMS did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
The program was cut on CMS
She said the minority health department was affected by the cuts. According to the CMS website, the segment is working with local and federal partners to eliminate health disparities for all ethnic minorities and improve health outcomes. Conduct research and analysis to develop new solutions to reduce costs, prevent illness, and reduce the incidence and severity of chronic diseases in the United States
The office was approved by the Affordable Care Act more than a decade ago, so closing it completely could be against the law. It appears to be one of the victims of the Trump administration’s ideological campaign against diversity, equity and inclusion, or initiative.
CMS understands that it needs to continue to fulfill its office’s responsibilities under statutory law, Carlton noted. She said CMS will appoint a new office for minority health directors.
However, she did not explicitly say whether current office director Dr. Martin Mendoza resigned or was affected by the cut.
But “probably the biggest group affected” was the office of program operations and local engagement, Carlton said. The office is responsible for implementing and overseeing Medicare and Medicaid programs and engaging with local level stakeholders. Carlton said the cut there was sought to target areas where there were several departments with “similar missions.”
The office responsible for managing agency grants and contracts was affected, while the Medicare Medicaid Coordination Office was also affected, Carlton added. The latter develops models to serve Medicare and Medicaid eligible people and improve their care coordination.
Part of that work will be taken up by others from outside the CMS or agency, Carlton said.
She said CMS will maintain an internal team that handles communications, HR and information technology. The agency’s IT team was not affected at all “due to the sensitivity of many datasets,” Carlton said.
