Crucial health programs will continue to operate during the federal government shutdown, but many services will halt or be significantly less efficient as staffers are furloughed, based on contingency plans in place for the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS).

The HHS states in its plan that it expects 32,460 employees to be furloughed during the shutdown, while retaining 79,717 employees. Roughly 15,000 retained employees will be kept on to perform activities required or implied to be necessary by law.

Ultimately, the department estimates that 41 percent of its total staff will be furloughed.

Agencies partially exempted from the shutdown include the Administration for Strategic Preparedness and Response, the National Institutes of Health (NIH), the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), though many of their activities will be suspended, according to the department.

Many of the protected activities during a shutdown are ensured through the Antideficiency Act, which allows for voluntary service of federal employees in emergencies dealing with the “safety of human life or the protection of property.”

Only 25 percent of NIH staff will be retained, and almost all administrative activities will halt, along with basic research and the admission of new patients at the NIH Clinical Center in Bethesda, Md.

The FDA will fare better, retaining about 86 percent of its staff, though........

© The Hill