Warren, Neal, Massachusetts Delegation Demand Answers on Closure of U.S. Health and Human Services Regional Office in Boston
“It is impossible to imagine why an Administration touting a ‘healthier’ America would take a chainsaw to an entire operation focused on bringing cures to market faster.”
“We do not take lightly this attack on the health of our constituents and the unceremonious termination of thousands of experts living in our communities who make us all safer.”
Washington, D.C. – U.S. Senator Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) and Representative Richard Neal (D-Mass.), alongside all members of the Massachusetts Congressional delegation, wrote to Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., demanding an explanation for the abrupt shuttering of an HHS Regional Office (RO) in Boston.
“It is impossible to overstate the lasting consequences this reckless action will have on every single person in this region—whether the families who rely on Region 1 employees dutifully overseeing child care licensing systems to ensure they deliver quality care to our children, or the coordination these civil servants conduct with state survey agencies to make sure all our nursing homes meet federal safety standards,” wrote the lawmakers.
The Boston HHS office employs hundreds of workers who serve the greater New England region. For decades, the office has worked with public health officials across Massachusetts and the New England region to serve 15 million people, including 3.4 million Medicare beneficiaries, 3.6 million Medicaid enrollees, and 125,000 Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) beneficiaries.
Additionally, the office contributes critical expertise in biotechnology and drug development. New England boasts some of the leading research and health institutions in the world, and the entire country has benefited from the innovative and life-saving work facilitated by collaboration between HHS experts and Massachusetts researchers.
“Through steadfast commitment to the programs they oversee, employees of ROs provide a service to all of us whether we know it or not. The RO plays a key role in approving the state plans and cost allocation agreements that are necessary for our state to receive the family support and child welfare funding it is entitled to under federal law, and your action will likely delay that funding, directly harming vulnerable foster children and at-risk families,” continued the lawmakers.
The Boston RO property is prime real estate and appeared on an early list of properties Elon Musk and the Department of Government Efficiency wished to “auction off.” The layoffs raise questions about whether the Administration is closing the office to enable Trump insiders to benefit from real estate deals while working families suffer from the resulting loss of services.
“Your unilateral decision to deny the people of New England access to public health officials with expertise in our local communities and scientists working with local researchers to create the next cure will also have ramifications that will be felt in our children’s worse health and social outcomes for decades,” concluded the lawmakers.
The lawmakers are demanding detailed answers on the basis of this decision, its impacts on the health of New Englanders, and how HHS will continue serving individuals in the region. They requested a response from Secretary Kennedy by April 18, 2025.
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