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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:  April 3, 2025 
FOR MORE INFORMATION: Jeff Van Ness, (202) 204-7515, jvanness@communityplans.net   

STATEMENT OF ACAP CEO MARGARET A. MURRAY ON REDUCTIONS IN FORCE AT U.S. DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES 

WASHINGTON—Margaret A. Murray, CEO of the Association for Community Plans (ACAP), issued the following statement in the wake of significant staffing cuts at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS): 

“We have significant concerns at what has unfolded at HHS over the past few days. The layoffs have included many dedicated public servants who worked hard on behalf of all Americans to improve health and health coverage. They are among the best of us. 

“ACAP supports efforts to streamline government in the name of efficiency and efficacy, but these reductions in force have left several basic functions of HHS fundamental to improving health outcomes–including surveilling avian influenza, understanding the causes of maternal mortality, or coordinating Medicare and Medicaid benefits—severely impaired, with little understandable clarity around how these functions will be replaced.   

“Many of these changes will make government less efficient, not more. For instance, ACAP and its plans work closely with the staff at the Medicare-Medicaid Coordination Office, which works with Special Needs Plans that cover people who are eligible for both Medicare and Medicaid. These are seniors with low incomes or people with disabilities. Through our direct experience, we know that the work of MMCO has led to a program that better uses taxpayer dollars and leads to better coverage and service for beneficiaries. The depth of experience of the MMCO’s staff has made the office a crucial interface between the two programs. Many of those staff are no longer with HHS.  

“Seniors and others who rely on the program will suffer for as long as the functions removed from MMCO go unaddressed. 

“It’s good to see a bipartisan call for further discussion of these changes. We look forward to hearing in further detail from Secretary Kennedy about his plans to restructure HHS, and to assure that basic functions of the agency continue into the future.” 

About ACAP: 
ACAP represents 83 health plans, which collectively provide health coverage to more than 30 million people. Safety Net Health Plans serve their members through Medicaid, Medicare, the Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP), the Marketplace and other publicly-sponsored health programs. For more information, visit communityplans.net. 

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