HHS removes two leaders from U.S. Preventive Services Task Force

WASHINGTON —

Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. removed two leaders from the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force this week, STAT News reported — a move signaling a broader shift in how HHS approaches preventive-care guidance.

USPSTF recommendations carry weight well beyond their advisory status. Under the Affordable Care Act, services the task force rates as A or B must be covered without cost-sharing by most insurance plans. Changes in the body’s leadership therefore have direct consequences for what preventive screenings — from cancer to cardiovascular risk to mental health — Americans can access without out-of-pocket cost.

The two removed members were not named in early reporting. Past task force chairs have been primary-care physicians and academic researchers selected on multi-year terms designed to insulate the body from political turnover.

Public health groups warned the dismissals could politicize a body whose recommendations have long been considered methodologically rigorous.

Sources: STAT News, May 20, 2026