Kennedy stymies preventive care panel as meetings are canceled

HHS confirmed that the March 2026 meeting of the United States Preventive Services Task Force was canceled, leaving the panel unable to vote on new recommendations for screenings, counseling and preventive medications. For patients, that matters because the task force’s evidence-based guidance underpins many insurance coverage rules in the Affordable Care Act.

The task force, created in 1984, normally meets three times a year in person. Its July 10, 2025 meeting was abruptly canceled by HHS, and its November 2025 session never took place because of the government shutdown. The Supreme Court’s June 27, 2025 ruling in Kennedy v. Braidwood Management upheld the constitutionality of the task force’s structure, but it did not end concern that HHS could still disrupt or reshape the panel’s work.

Pressure on the task force intensified almost immediately after the July 2025 cancellation. A July 9 letter signed by 104 health organizations urged congressional leaders to protect the integrity of the United States Preventive Services Task Force and keep its work anchored in independence and scientific rigor. The American College of Physicians called the cancellation abrupt and unexplained, saying it raised concerns about the effect on preventive care.

By July 28, six major physician groups, the American Academy of Family Physicians, the American Academy of Pediatrics, the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists, the American College of Physicians, the American Osteopathic Association and the American Psychiatric Association, warned that reports of possible dismissal of USPSTF members reflected an alarming erosion of scientific integrity and would have grave consequences.

Sen. Patty Murray said the postponement should “set off alarm bells” for people worried about Kennedy’s next move. HHS has said it is looking forward to engaging with the task force, but Kennedy’s June 2025 statement that he was reconstituting another advisory committee to avoid conflicts of interest and restore public trust in vaccines signaled a broader effort to intervene in federal health panels. For a body whose recommendations shape everyday preventive care, each canceled meeting pushes new guidance further out of reach.