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This is a MedPage Today story. As President Donald Trump’s picks to lead federal health agencies await confirmation hearings, there are now acting directors in place at HHS and its key sub-agencies. Here is what is known about who is currently running the show at these sprawling and influential entities. HHS Acting Secretary: Dorothy Fink, MD Fink is deputy assistant secretary for women’s health and director of the Office on Women’s Health in the Office of the Assistant Secretary for Health at HHS. She is board certified in endocrinology, internal medicine, and pediatrics. Soon after her appointment as acting secretary, she told agency staff leaders in a memo that an "immediate pause" had been ordered on communications, such as regulations, guidance, announcements, press releases, social media posts, and website posts, until they had been approved by a political appointee. In a subsequent statement issued this week, Fink noted that the Office for Civil Rights at HHS would…

This is a MedPage Today story. Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s statements before the Senate Finance Committee on Wednesday revealed a concerning lack of knowledge about the major health programs he’d oversee, should he be confirmed as HHS secretary. On several occasions during the 3.5-hour hearing, Kennedy seemed to conflate Medicare, Medicaid, and Medicare Advantage, and appeared to mistakenly refer to the Affordable Care Act health exchanges. "Medicaid is not working for Americans, and it’s specifically not working for the target population," he said in response to questions from Sen. Bill Cassidy, MD (R-La.), a physician, who asked him in what ways he would improve the healthcare delivery system. "I’m on Medicare Advantage and I’m very happy with it," Kennedy replied. "Most people who are on Medicaid are not happy. The premiums are too high, the deductibles are too high, the networks are narrow." In fact, Medicaid plans generally do not have premiums, or if they do, under federal law…

This is a MedPage Today story. Sen. Bill Cassidy, MD (R-La.), said he received numerous pledges from Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and the Trump administration to protect medicine and science — particularly regarding vaccines — that clinched his support for the HHS secretary nominee. Cassidy said Kennedy and the administration promised an "unprecedentedly close collaborative working relationship" that includes the two of them meeting or speaking "multiple times a month." They also said that Kennedy could appear before the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP) Committee — which Cassidy currently chairs — quarterly if requested. Most of the pledges revolved around vaccines, including that Kennedy will work within current approval and safety monitoring systems, and not establish parallel systems. He’ll also maintain recommendations from CDC’s Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP) without changes, and statements that vaccines don’t cause autism won’t be…

This is a MedPage Today story. Employees at HHS and its various sub-agencies are struggling to figure out how to implement President Donald Trump’s executive order requiring them to report in-person to their work sites full-time, and how the changes will affect them. An Early Executive Order The in-person work requirement was outlined in an executive order signed by President Trump on January 20, his first day in office. The two-paragraph order stated that "Heads of all departments and agencies in the executive branch of government shall, as soon as practicable, take all necessary steps to terminate remote work arrangements and require employees to return to work in-person at their respective duty stations on a full-time basis, provided that the department and agency heads shall make exemptions they deem necessary." The order was further explained in a January 27 memo to agency heads from both the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) and the Office of Management and Budget (OMB)….