Federal Health Panel Cancels Third Straight Meeting Amid Uncertainty

A key federal advisory group that decides which preventive health services insurance must cover has postponed its March meeting, marking the third consecutive cancellation. The U.S. Preventive Services Task Force hasn't convened since March 2025, raising concerns about the future of the 40-year-old panel under Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.

A federal advisory group responsible for determining which preventive health services insurance companies must provide at no cost has delayed its March gathering, marking the third meeting in a row to be called off.

The U.S. Preventive Services Task Force, consisting of 16 medical experts who typically convene three times annually, has not assembled since March of last year. Their November session was scrapped due to a federal government shutdown, while the July meeting was suddenly called off by the Department of Health and Human Services.

“The first USPSTF meeting of this year has been postponed and will be rescheduled in the coming months,” HHS spokesman Andrew Nixon said in an email on Tuesday.

Worries have mounted over the past year that Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. could eliminate the advisory group entirely as he works to overhaul federal oversight of vaccines, food safety, and medical treatments.

Kennedy demonstrated his willingness to make dramatic changes last June when he dismissed all 17 experts from the CDC’s Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices, a vaccine advisory board, and replaced them with just seven personally selected members, including individuals known for questioning vaccine safety.

For four decades, the USPSTF has determined which medical screenings and treatments—ranging from regular breast cancer checks to HIV prevention medications—must be offered without charge under most insurance policies.

While the task force operates as an independent volunteer organization, it depends on administrative support from the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality within HHS.

Task force members serve four-year appointments that are staggered to ensure continuity, with some positions rotating annually. Two new members started their terms in January 2025.

A Supreme Court decision in June 2025 regarding insurance coverage for HIV prevention treatments confirmed that the Health Secretary holds authority over this preventive care advisory group.

Conservative critics have accused the USPSTF of having a liberal bias in its recommendations.

In early July, 104 healthcare organizations—including the American Medical Association and American Academy of Pediatrics—sent a joint letter to Congressional health committees asking lawmakers “to protect the integrity” of the task force.