The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services canceled around $12 billion in federal grants to states that were allocated during the COVID-19 pandemic, the federal department and state officials said on Wednesday.

The grants were being used to track, prevent and control infectious diseases, including measles and bird flu, as well as track mental health services and fund addiction treatment, said lawmakers and state governors, who sharply criticized the move.

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) announced that it will lay off about 10,000 full-time employees. 

The move is projected to save taxpayers $1.8 billion annually.

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services will cut about 10,000 full-time jobs and close half of its regional offices, it said on Thursday, a major overhaul of the department under Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.

Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. plans to slash 10,000 full-time employees across different departments, as he works to reshape the nation’s federal health agencies, the department said Thursday.

Health insurers got double-paid by the Medicaid system for the coverage of hundreds of thousands of patients across the country, costing taxpayers billions of dollars in extra payments.

The insurers, which are paid by state and federal governments to cover low-income Medicaid recipients, collected at least $4.3 billion over three years for patients who were enrolled—and paid for—in other states, a Wall Street Journal analysis of Medicaid data found. 

The Trump administration is canceling billions of dollars in grant funding to state and local health departments without warning, throwing their programs into disarray.

Why it matters: The move casts doubt on states' ability to continue substance use disorder support programs and prevent emerging infectious diseases, among other efforts.

In Virginia, the state health department has already begun laying off staff as a result of the funding cuts.

The United States is poised to stop funding Gavi, a major global vaccine partnership credited with saving the lives of millions of children. 

President Donald Trump’s administration also plans to dramatically scale back its support for work to combat malaria, but will continue to fund some grants for drugs that treat HIV and tuberculosis, as well as provide food aid to countries hit by wars and natural disasters.

The Trump administration intends to terminate the United States’ financial support for Gavi, the organization that has helped purchase critical vaccines for children in developing countries, saving millions of lives over the past quarter century, and to significantly scale back support for efforts to combat malaria, one of the biggest killers globally.

The administration has decided to continue some key grants for medications to treat H.I.V. and tuberculosis, and food aid to countries facing civil wars and natural disasters.

The Trump administration plans to end U.S. funding for Gavi, a global program that purchases shots to help vaccinate children in developing countries against some of the world’s deadliest diseases. 

Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance is a public-private partnership that helps vaccinate more than half of the world’s children. Since its launch in 2000, the program has helped more than 1.1 billion children.