The Department of Health and Human Services announced four political appointees have been elevated into more senior roles as part of a restructuring the department said is key to accelerating health secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s Make America Healthy Again agenda.
Chris Klomp, a former health IT CEO, will become chief counselor at HHS, overseeing “all operations of the department.” Klomp was previously the head of the Centers for Medicare and has played a large role in the department’s push to lower drug prices. He joined a delegation of HHS officials, including Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Administrator Mehmet Oz, in meeting with key Senate Republicans on drug pricing legislation.
Kyle Diamantas and Grace Graham have been named senior counselors for the Food and Drug Administration. Graham was most recently the FDA’s deputy commissioner for policy. Diamantas, an attorney with ties to Donald Trump Jr., was deputy commissioner for human foods. John Brooks will also be senior counselor at CMS. Brooks, who was recently CMS’s chief policy and regulatory officer, worked on drug reform at HHS during Trump’s first term before moving into health policy consulting.
FDA Menopause Product Label Changes
The FDA has approved new labels for six menopause hormone therapies. The move comes three months after the FDA lifted a decades-old requirement that these products carry a strict black box warning label for cardiovascular, dementia, and breast cancer risks. Nearly 30 companies submitted proposed label changes at the FDA’s request. The first batch of approvals includes both systemic and vaginal products.
Labor Department Settlement on Ghost Networks
The Department of Labor has reached a $28 million settlement with the Kaiser Foundation Health Plan to resolve multiple investigations into the company’s failure to provide access to mental health and substance use disorder care. A 2017 study found that patients were unable to make appointments with more than 80% of providers listed as in-network, creating so-called ghost networks. The settlement affects millions of people in California who receive Kaiser insurance through their jobs and includes the creation of a claims process for members to seek reimbursement for certain out-of-network expenses.
This article is an AI-assisted summary. All facts and figures are drawn from the original report: https://www.statnews.com/2026/02/13/health-news-hhs-shakes-up-key-advisors/