XL Eagle

Agency deep dive · 08

Health and Human Services

HHS is the federal government's health department and, by total outlays, its largest by a wide margin — though most of that is Medicare and Medicaid benefit payments. The discretionary request that actually buys goods and services is $93.8 billion.

Vendors assume HHS means laboratory equipment and clinical services. A great deal of it is neither. The department runs public-health campaigns, research administration, facilities and outreach, and it buys the ordinary commercial services that go with them. XL Eagle's HHS past performance is a good example: display advertising, not medicine.

How HHS is organized

HHS is a holding company for operating divisions, most of which hold their own contracting authority.

How HHS is organized Organization chart. Above HHS sits the President’s Cabinet. Beneath the Health and Human Services sit: Centers for Medicare and Medicaid, National Institutes of Health, Centers for Disease Control, Food and Drug Administration, Health Resources and Services, Indian Health Service, Departmental Mgmt and Support. THE PRESIDENT’S CABINET HHS is 1 of 15 executive departments Health and Human Services SECRETARY Centers for Medicare and Medicaid CMS National Institutes of Health NIH Centers for Disease Control CDC Food and Drug Administration FDA Health Resources and Services HRSA Indian Health Service IHS Departmental Mgmt and Support PSC · ASA ASPA LEGEND Where XL Eagle's HHS past performance sits SOURCE: OMB TABLE 2, FY2026 DISCRETIONARY REQUEST · RETRIEVED 2026-08-22
The operating divisions dominate the headlines, but a large share of departmental buying runs through central administrative offices. XL Eagle's HHS contract number carries the 75P prefix, which identifies a departmental contracting office rather than one of the operating divisions.

Where the money is

HHS's FY2026 discretionary request is $93.8 billion, down sharply from $127.0 billion enacted in FY2025. Against the other civilian departments:

HHS against the other civilian departments, FY2026 Horizontal bar chart comparing civilian federal departments by FY2026 President’s Budget discretionary request. VA $134.6B; DHS $107.4B; HHS $93.8B; DOJ $33.2B; USDA $22.3B; DOI $11.7B; DOC $8.5B. HHS is highlighted. VA $134.6B DHS $107.4B HHS $93.8B DOJ $33.2B USDA $22.3B DOI $11.7B DOC $8.5B $0 $35B $70B $105B $140B LEGEND Health and Human Services LENGTH = FY2026 PRESIDENT’S BUDGET DISCRETIONARY REQUEST
The discretionary figure is a small fraction of what HHS actually spends — Medicare and Medicaid are mandatory benefit payments, not contracted work. The discretionary slice shown here is much closer to the addressable market.
  • Figures are the FY2026 President's Budget request in base discretionary budget authority, from OMB Table 2, the same source used across this series.
  • HHS's discretionary request falls 26.2% against FY2025 enacted, the largest proportional reduction of any department XL Eagle currently works with.
  • HHS total spending is far larger than the figure shown; Medicare and Medicaid benefits are mandatory spending, not contracted work.
  • Defense is excluded from the chart; at $961.6B it would compress every department shown into an unreadable sliver.

Where we have delivered

One HHS past-performance contract, and not the kind of work most vendors expect from a health department.

Health and Human Services

Indoor and outdoor display advertising

Supply of indoor and outdoor display advertising under a departmental contract. Included here because it is a useful corrective: a health department buys commercial advertising, printing and outreach services alongside its clinical and research work.

Departmental contract · delivered

The operating divisions, and what they buy

DivisionWhat it doesWhat it typically buys
Centers for Medicare and Medicaid ServicesCMSAdministers Medicare, Medicaid and the health insurance marketplaces.Claims processing and IT systems, actuarial and program-integrity services, outreach and enrollment support.
National Institutes of HealthNIHThe federal biomedical research enterprise, 27 institutes and centers.Laboratory equipment and supplies, facility construction and maintenance, research support services, animal care.
Centers for Disease Control and PreventionCDCPublic health surveillance, outbreak response and prevention programs.Laboratory equipment, public-health campaigns and advertising, data systems, facility services.
Food and Drug AdministrationFDARegulates food, drugs, devices and tobacco.Laboratory and inspection equipment, field office services, IT systems.
Health Resources and Services AdministrationHRSAFunds community health centers and the health workforce.Grant administration support, technical assistance, IT.
Indian Health ServiceIHSProvides health services to American Indian and Alaska Native people.Medical equipment, facility construction and maintenance, sanitation infrastructure, staffing services.
Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services AdministrationSAMHSABehavioral health programs and grants.Program support, training and technical assistance, campaigns.
Administration for Children and FamiliesACFChild welfare, Head Start and family assistance programs.Program support services, IT, evaluation and research.
Program Support Center and departmental officesPSCCentral administrative and acquisition services for the department — the 75P contracting prefix.Advertising and printing, logistics and supply, facility and administrative services, shared IT.

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More deep dives

The Department of the Interior →The Department of Defense →The Department of Homeland Security →The Department of Commerce →The Department of Agriculture →The Department of Veterans Affairs →The Department of Justice →