HUDDLE #TRENDS
RFK Jr.’s HHS Overhaul Is Reshaping U.S. Health Policy
The first six months of RFK Jr.’s tenure as the new head of the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) have been anything but quiet. From sweeping staff cuts to controversial agency overhauls, he’s rapidly reshaping how federal health policy operates—and not without consequences.
In this report, I break down what’s happening at a high level, unpack RFK Jr.’s key policy visions, and explore what his changes mean for physicians, scientists, and the healthcare system as a whole.
Big Picture: What’s Happening at a Bird’s Eye View
RFK Jr. entered his new role as head of HHS, and hit the ground running. Within months, he laid off thousands of federal employees, merged entire agencies, slashed research budgets, and rewrote vaccine guidelines. It’s one of the most aggressive overhauls of the country’s public health infrastructure we’ve ever seen.
His reasoning?
The system is bloated, corrupt, and captured by industry interests. And to fix it, he believes we need to cut deep, consolidate agencies, and refocus on prevention, nutrition, and “medical freedom.” Whether you agree with his approach or not, my colleagues and I across medicine, research, and public health are already feeling the ripple effects.
Upgrade to Huddle+ to read the rest of the report, covering:
RFK Jr.’s Health Background and Philosophy
Key Policy Visions and Structural Changes
Massive Agency Cuts
FDA-Specific Targets
New Megadepartments
Ideological Influence
Impact Across the Healthcare Ecosystem
Physicians
Scientists
Health Systems
Public Health
Dashevsky’s Dissection: As physicians, we’re trained to treat root causes. But right now, it feels like the system itself is under attack. And we’re left picking up the pieces.
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