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<\/p>\n Email Link<\/p>\n \n The US Department of Health and Human Services called off an upcoming meeting of expert advisers on preventive health care, raising questions about the future of the longtime nonpolitical advisory group.\n <\/p>\n \n An HHS spokesperson confirmed to CNN that the US Preventive Services Task Force \u2014 which has set recommendations for cancer screenings, STI testing and other preventive care \u2014 will not meet Thursday, as previously scheduled.\n <\/p>\n \n A notice sent Monday afternoon said the office of HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. is postponing the July meeting, according to a person familiar with the details who declined to be named because they weren\u2019t authorized to discuss the meeting publicly.\n <\/p>\n \n \u201cMoving forward, HHS looks forward to engaging with the task force to promote the health and well-being of the American people,\u201d the notice said.\n <\/p>\n \n But the cancellation arrives amid Kennedy\u2019s push to reshape the health agencies and expunge them of what he has called longtime health-care industry influence on policies. Last month, he dismissed the 17-member vaccine advisory committee for the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and, two days later, named eight new picks. Several of the new members of the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices have questioned vaccine safety; two have testified in court against vaccine manufacturers.\n <\/p>\n \n \u201cThere is extraordinary concern\u201d among those connected to the US Preventive Services Task Force \u201cthat it\u2019s about to be dismissed, like ACIP was,\u201d the person familiar with the meeting said.\n <\/p>\n \n HHS didn\u2019t respond to CNN\u2019s request for further comment.\n <\/p>\n \n \u201cThe U.S. Preventive Services Task Force is essential to ensuring cancer screenings and other lifesaving preventive services are covered by insurance at no cost to patients\u2014and the abrupt postponement of tomorrow\u2019s task force meeting should set off alarm bells,\u201d Sen. Patty Murray said in a statement Thursday. \u201cI\u2019m concerned Secretary Kennedy may be taking the first steps to dismantle the Preventive Services Task Force and attack its mission and commitment to scientific evidence, just like he has done at the CDC\u2019s vaccine advisory committee and across our nation\u2019s public health agencies.\u201d\n <\/p>\n \n Kennedy\u2019s control over the task force was recently solidified by the US Supreme Court. Last month, in a case challenging a popular provision of the Affordable Care Act, the justices upheld the constitutionality of the task force, which recommends preventive health care services<\/a> that insurers must cover at no cost. Both the Biden and Trump administrations argued that the task force was properly set up \u2014 and therefore, its recommendations should be upheld \u2014 because the Health and Human Services secretary was able to name and fire its members.\n <\/p>\n \n The 16-member task force was established in 1984 and provides recommendations about preventive services, such as screenings for cancer and various disorders and counseling, that help make Americans aware of illnesses and conditions earlier, when they can be easier and less expensive to treat. The Affordable Care Act mandates that those services are provided without charge to patients.\n <\/p>\n \n While consumer advocates cheered the Supreme Court ruling, they cautioned that it gives Kennedy more power over preventive care recommendations.\n <\/p>\n \n \u201cThe big takeaway here is that the Task Force\u2019s recommendations are binding, just as the ACA\u2019s drafters intended,\u201d Nicholas Bagley, a law professor at the University of Michigan, posted on X<\/a> last month. \u201cBUT the scheme is constitutional only because Sec Kennedy can exercise near-complete control over Task Force recommendations. A mixed bag!\u201d\n <\/p>\n \n The task force meeting\u2019s cancellation is \u201cvery concerning,\u201d said Dr. Aaron Carroll, a pediatrician and CEO of Academy Health, a national organization for health services researchers, policymakers and health practitioners.\n <\/p>\n \n The task force has operated across both Democratic and Republican administrations as a trusted source of science-based guidance, he noted. Its recommendations are based on systematic, rigorous review, and its methods are very transparent.\n <\/p>\n \n \u201cPolitical interference in any way could undermine the task force\u2019s vital role in improving health outcomes nationwide,\u201d Carroll said. \u201cIf you were to come in and just start wiping it clean and then appointing everyone, or appointing a bunch of new people, that undermines the entire process by which we assure it\u2019s not partisan or not ideological.\u201d\n <\/p>\n \n Changing the process could affect how patients access no-cost preventive care, how doctors practice and how insurers design coverage, he said. It also sends a \u201cchilling message\u201d to health researchers and providers and \u201cpotentially opens the door to fringe theories influencing mainstream medicine,\u201d he added.\n <\/p>\n
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