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.

MAY RECAP

May was a busy month. I wrote about some of the biggest forces shaping healthcare right now—AI tools, insurance debates, political threats to women’s health, and the middlemen that quietly drive up costs. If you missed anything, here’s a quick recap.

I kicked things off with a deep dive into one of the most overlooked players in healthcare pricing: pharmacy benefit managers. These middlemen control which drugs get covered, how much they cost, and who profits. I broke down how they came to power—and whether we actually need them.

Then I tackled a controversial question:

• Should insurance even cover primary care?

I looked at it through three lenses I know well: a physician, an engineer, and an economist.

I also covered Epic’s new AI scheduling tool and whether AI-powered texts can actually reduce waitlists. I also compared two kinds of AI making their way into medicine—ambient AI vs. copilot agents—and what they really mean for your clinical workflow.

Here are a few more pieces I published in May:

• Mental health care in 2035: How wearable tech and AI could reshape the mental health space.

• Function Health acquired Ezra: What this deal means for the future of longevity testing.

• Can you tell if medical advice came from AI?: No, probably not.

• Women’s health funding is under political fire: A look at the headwinds FemHealth may face in 2025.

I also announced a new course to be launched July 1st:

• How Healthcare Really Works

It’s a crash course on the systems, money, and incentives that shape modern medicine. No fluff—just what I wish I’d learned during training.

And for Huddle+ members, I released the first report in a new monthly series:

• The Middlemen in Healthcare

Each month, I’ll spotlight a different player—from PBMs to staffing firms—and unpack how they drive up costs and complicate care.

Check out more exclusive coverage with a Huddle+ subscription.

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