Administration for a Healthy America
| Agency overview | |
|---|---|
| Formed | March 27, 2025 |
| Preceding agencies | |
| Parent agency | Department of Health and Human Services |
The Administration for a Healthy America (AHA) is a planned operating agency within the U.S. Public Health Service in the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), to be created as part of the HHS reorganization of 2025 under the administration of President Donald Trump. Its creation was announced on March 27, 2025,[1] and is planned to be established through the consolidation of multiple existing public health agencies.
The consolidation has a stated goal of improving efficiency and reducing redundancy within HHS, and is intended to improve coordination among similar programs and streamline the delivery of services, particularly for low-income populations. As of March 2025, the Administration for a Healthy America is in the early stages of implementation, and the long-term operational structure and leadership of the agency have not yet been finalized.
The creation of the Administration for a Healthy America and the broader HHS restructuring have drawn criticism from public health experts, former officials, labor unions and Democratic lawmakers.[2]
Predecessors
[edit]
The new agency is planned combine four existing HHS top-level agencies and one sub-agency:[1]
- The Health Resources and Services Administration was established in 1982 from merging the Health Resources Administration and the Health Services Administration, which themselves were created in 1973 at the end of the Public Health Service (PHS) reorganizations of 1966–1973 to consolidate a number of longstanding smaller divisions.[3]
- The Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration was established in 1992 from splitting the treatment functions from the National Institute of Mental Health, National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism, and National Institute on Drug Abuse.[4]
- The Office of the Assistant Secretary for Health was established in 1967 as part of the 1966–1973 PHS reorganizations, when the position of the Assistant Secretary for Health was created and supplanted the Surgeon General as the head of the Public Health Service agencies.[5][6][7][8]
- The Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry was created in 1980 by the Superfund legislation.[9] Although nominally a top-level HHS agency, it has a common leadership with CDC's National Center for Environmental Health.[10]
- The National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health's earliest predecessor was formed in 1914, and became NIOSH in 1971 as a result of the Occupational Safety and Health Act of 1970.[11] It was absorbed into CDC in 1973 at the end of the 1966–1973 PHS reorganizations.[12]
Organization
[edit]AHA's programs are planned to be aligned into divisions covering:[13]
- Primary care
- Maternal and child health
- Mental health
- Environmental health
- HIV/AIDS
- Workforce
History
[edit]The creation of the AHA was part of a broader restructuring of HHS in response to Executive Order 14210, "Implementing the President's 'Department of Government Efficiency' Cost Efficiency Initiative". The plan was announced by HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and included significant organizational changes, staff reductions and budgetary shifts across the department.[1] The announcement made reference to the slogan "Make America Healthy Again", which was coined by Kennedy during his support of the Donald Trump 2024 presidential campaign to echo Trump's own Make America Great Again slogan.[1][14]
References
[edit]- ^ a b c d "HHS Announces Transformation to Make America Healthy Again". U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. 2025-03-27. Archived from the original on 2025-03-27. Retrieved 2025-03-27.
- ^ Stolberg, Sheryl Gay; Jewett, Christina (March 27, 2025). "10,000 Federal Health Workers to Be Laid Off". The New York Times. Retrieved March 27, 2025.
- ^ "Records of the Health Resources and Services Administration [HRSA]". National Archives. 2016-08-15. Section 512.2, 512.4. Archived from the original on 2020-08-30. Retrieved 2020-08-29.
- ^ "Records of the Alcohol, Drug Abuse, and Mental Health Administration [ADAMHA] (Record Group 511), 1929-93". National Archives. U.S. National Archives and Records Administration. Retrieved 18 July 2012.
- ^ "Records of the Office of the Assistant Secretary for Health [OASH]". National Archives. 2016-08-15. Retrieved 2020-08-29.
- ^ History, mission, and organization of the Public Health Service. U.S. Public Health Service. 1976. pp. 3–4, 20, 22.
- ^ "A Common Thread of Service: A History of the Department of Health, Education, and Welfare". U.S. Department of Health, Education, and Welfare. 1972-07-01. Secretary Cohen. Retrieved 2020-09-01 – via HHS Office of the Assistant Secretary for Planning and Evaluation.
- ^ Landman, Keren (2019-08-29). "For America's Public Health Officers, Questions of Duty and Purpose". Undark Magazine. Retrieved 2020-07-11.
- ^ "ATSDR Background and Congressional Mandates". U.S. Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry. 2025-02-18. Retrieved 2025-03-27.
- ^ Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry. "Fiscal Year 2008 Justification of Estimates for Appropriation Committees" (PDF). p. 34.
- ^ The President's Report on Occupational Safety and Health. Commerce Clearing House. 1972. pp. 153–154.
- ^ Snyder, Lynne Page (1998). "The National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health, 1971–1996: A Brief History" (PDF). Retrieved 2021-05-05.
- ^ "Fact Sheet: HHS' Transformation to Make America Healthy Again". U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. 2025-03-27. Retrieved 2025-03-27.
- ^ Weixel, Nathaniel (February 13, 2025). "Senate confirms RFK Jr. as Health secretary; McConnell lone GOP dissenter". The Hill. Retrieved 2025-03-30.
| Secretariat staff offices |
|  |
|---|---|---|
| Public Health Service |
| |
| Human services agencies | ||
| Programs | ||