Until this week’s confirmation hearings for Robert F. Kennedy Jr. to be secretary of the US Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), health has been overshadowed by other issues. Even with the recent news about the pause of communications from HHS and other health agencies, HHS has not been top of mind for most people. But with the confirmation hearings this week, it’s a good time to consider the programs and functions HHS and its secretary oversee.
As a member of the U.S. Cabinet, the Secretary of HHS serves as a trusted advisor to the president on the nation’s health and well-being. These decisions and recommendations can have a wide-ranging impact, touching countless aspects of American life.
For example, HHS helps provide health insurance for one in three Americans through Medicare and Medicaid. The Federal Drug Administration and other agencies help ensure the safety of the nation’s food supply, drugs, and medical devices. Among other priorities, the Center for Disease Control and Prevention monitors emerging diseases and funds work in communities across the country to make people healthier. The National Institutes of Health funds medical research that seeks cures for a wide range of diseases. Other parts of HHS provide essentials like food for qualified seniors and hearing aids for people with low incomes. The department’s work affects the young and old, the healthy and sick, the insured and the uninsured.
In all, the department oversees 13 divisions with 10 regional offices that in total employ more than 80,000 workers. And the HHS Secretary is the quarterback — coordinating plays between federal, state, and local authorities, and setting policy that help address current health needs and future threats. The agency is the nation’s largest grantmaker, with a significant amount of federal funding supporting programs at the state and local levels, including Medicaid costs, block grants states use for a variety of programs, and emergency funding for things like infectious diseases, natural disasters, and opioid programs.
The impact of HHS goes well beyond health, impacting education, labor, housing, and nutrition through partnership with agencies the Department of Education and the Department of Housing and Urban Development. The work of HHS — and its leader — demonstrates how deeply interconnected the factors that shape our nation’s health are, and how much they depend on shared responsibility and shared purpose.
Consider this: when COVID-19 hit, hospitals in some regions quickly became overwhelmed, leading to resource shortages elsewhere. Supply chain issues from manufacturers in one place made it hard for rural clinics and urban hospitals across the nation to get basic protective equipment for staff. We saw firsthand how the health of one community can quickly ripple across the country. A cough or a sneeze in the Northeast can quickly become a problem in the Southwest.
A public health crisis, much like a hurricane or wildfire, is never just someone else’s problem. A suspected act of bioterrorism in Michigan would launch simultaneous conversations about surveillance, preparedness, and containment in other states. A measles or bird flu outbreak in Texas would raise alarms across the country.
Yes, Americans are independent people who make a lot of our own decisions to regarding what’s best for ourselves and our families, but our health is inextricably linked. HHS is one of the departments ensuring those connections are managed in ways that can make us all safer and healthier.
Discussions about health funding, policy, and agency leadership aren’t just political debates happening in Washington. When a child receives routine vaccinations at a community clinic, or a senior in a rural area gets a meal delivered, HHS is behind the scenes, funding and coordinating these critical efforts. In fact, it’s not an exaggeration to say that decisions made by the administration, and especially HHS leaders, will have a direct impact on the lives of every American across the country.
Science is not a sport – we don’t have winners and losers. Decisions made by HHS and the many agencies it oversees will impact our collective health, our economic strength, and our national security.
