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13h ago

Kennedy Weighs Ousting U.S. Preventive Services Task Force

No final decision has been made on the panel’s leadership overhaul.

FILE PHOTO: U.S. Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. speaks at a Make Oklahoma Healthy Again kickoff event at the Oklahoma State Capitol in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, U.S. June 26, 2025. REUTERS/Nick Oxford/File Photo
Secretary of Health and Human Services Robert F. Kennedy Jr. arrives before a roundtable event on American agriculture, at the U.S. Capitol, in Washington, D.C., on Tuesday, July 15, 2025. (Graeme Sloan/Sipa USA)
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Overview

  • Kennedy is reportedly considering dismissing all 16 members of the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force, which advises on screenings and preventive treatments.
  • The independent volunteer panel reviews scientific evidence to grade services as A or B, a designation that requires insurers to cover them at no cost under the Affordable Care Act.
  • HHS spokesperson Andrew Nixon said on July 25 that no final decision has been made on revamping the task force.
  • More than 100 health organizations, including the American Medical Association and the American Academy of Pediatrics, have warned that ousting the panel could undermine evidence-based guidance.
  • In June, he overhauled the CDC’s vaccine advisory committee with critics of vaccine science, and the Supreme Court’s 6-3 ruling upheld the task force’s ACA coverage mandate while confirming the HHS secretary’s authority to remove its members.