HHS abruptly cancels preventive services task force meeting

Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. abruptly postponed a meeting of the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force originally scheduled for Thursday, according to an email sent to people who planned to attend.  

“The Immediate Office of the Secretary is postponing the July USPSTF meeting. Moving forward, HHS looks forward to engaging with the Task Force to promote the health and well-being of the American people,” the email stated. 

An HHS spokesperson confirmed the cancellation but did not provide a reasoning. 

The cancellation comes on the heels of a Supreme Court decision last month that asserted Kennedy has power to hire and fire members of the task force at will, and to review and potentially delay or veto the recommendations they issue — something no prior administration has done. 

The task force is composed of medical experts who serve four-year terms on a volunteer basis. They are appointed by the HHS secretary and are supposed to be shielded from political influence. Congress designed the task force to be “independent and, to the extent practicable, not subject to political pressure.” 

Task force members meet in person three times a year — in March, July and November. 

ObamaCare requires insurers cover services the task force recommends with a “grade” of A or B, such as cancer screenings and HIV-prevention drugs. 

The sudden cancellation of the meeting raised alarms among public health experts, who fear Kennedy could meddle with the task force's composition or fire its members, like he did with a vaccine advisory panel last month. 

AcademyHealth, a nonpartisan group representing health researchers, sent a letter to congressional health leaders Wednesday urging them to protect the integrity of the USPSTF “from intentional or unintentional political interference.” 

"The loss of trustworthiness in the rigorous and nonpartisan work of the Task Force would devastate patients, hospital systems, and payers as misinformation creates barriers to accessing lifesaving and cost effective care,” the group wrote.