Administration Continues to Shuffle Staff in HHS, IRS

ANCOR is sharing these items by Politico Pulse, and ASAE because it is important for our members to keep track of who key policy-makers are in the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS). Our members also need to know about tax policymakers, given that many of our members are subject to Internal Revenue Service (IRS) rules on tax-exempt charities. ANCOR is a member of ASAE.

As shared by Politico Pulse:

“HRSA ADMINISTRATOR IS JOINING AZAR’s OFFICE – George Sigounas is departing as administrator of the Health Resources and Services Administration after a two-year stint leading the division, POLITICO first reported and HHS confirmed.

Sigounas will instead serve as an adviser to Azar on rural health and as deputy director of the agency’s health reform office, HHS said. Thomas Engels, who has served as HRSA’s deputy administrator, will become acting head of HRSA, a division of HHS. [Emphasis added by ANCOR because the Administration has supported efforts to restructure Medicaid through block grants and per capita caps as part of its health care reform.]

— Sigounas had a low-profile tenure as HRSA’s leader, as the longtime cancer researcher had little background in the division’s core rural health work. But he was involved more recently in the administration’s push to end HIV transmission in the next decade and its new initiative to redesign kidney care.” 

As shared by ASAE:

“IRS Commissioner Chuck Rettig announced this week that Tamera Ripperda will lead the agency’s Tax Exempt and Government Entities (TE/GE) division.

The TE/GE division is responsible for oversight of the tax-exempt sector. Ripperda is a long-time IRS official, most recently heading up the IRS Small Business and Self-Employed division and helping oversee the IRS implementation of the 2017 tax law. Prior to 2016, Ripperda was director of IRS Exempt Organizations.”