{"id":914,"date":"2026-07-07T10:09:13","date_gmt":"2026-07-07T10:09:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/modernhomejournals.com\/?p=914"},"modified":"2026-07-07T10:09:13","modified_gmt":"2026-07-07T10:09:13","slug":"rfk-jr-is-preparing-to-reshape-another-key-health-panel","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/modernhomejournals.com\/?p=914","title":{"rendered":"RFK Jr. Is Preparing to Reshape Another Key Health Panel"},"content":{"rendered":"
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One year after overhauling a key group of vaccine advisers, Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. is poised to put his stamp on another critical health panel, one whose recommendations determine which screenings millions of Americans can get for free.<\/p>\n

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The Department of Health and Human Services is preparing to announce eight new members of the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force and plans to let the group meet in late August, according to a notice sent out last Thursday and confirmed Monday by HHS.<\/p>\n

It will be the group\u2019s first meeting in 17 months, after the administration canceled four prior meetings, ousted two of the task force\u2019s vice chairs in May and didn\u2019t replace other members as their terms expired. Normally composed of 16 experts, the task force has shrunk by half in recent months.<\/p>\n

Kennedy has previously called the task force \u201clackadaisical\u201d and \u201cnegligent\u201d \u2014 a similar criticism he had of the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices, which he replaced last year with handpicked panelists<\/u><\/span>, several of whom have associations with the anti-vaccine movement.<\/p>\n

Now, former Preventive Services Task Force members say they\u2019re concerned the forthcoming changes will hinder the panel\u2019s ability to make timely, evidence-based recommendations.<\/p>\n

\u201cKennedy is doing the same thing as he did for ACIP,\u201d said Mike Silverstein, who was a third co-chair of the task force before his term ended in March. \u201cBut he\u2019s doing it in slow motion and he\u2019s doing it in a way that doesn\u2019t generate a big splash.\u201d<\/p>\n

Potential new members are being screened primarily by a political appointee, Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality Director Roger Klein, and his staff, including career medical officers,without the usual input from task force vice chairs.Kennedy dismissed<\/u><\/span> former vice chairs Esa Davis and John Wong in May. Davis said she reapplied but hasn\u2019t been contacted for an interview.<\/p>\n

The arm of HHS that oversees the task force is also operating with roughly 70 percent fewer staff, according to numbers from the Department of Personnel Management.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis feels more like a political process now,\u201d said John Ruiz, a psychologist whose task force term ended in January. \u201cWhoever ends up [on the task force] may or may not be qualified. But the process had been so transparent before.\u201d<\/p>\n

Klein is seeking specialists \u2014 a marked departure from the usual practice of appointing primary care doctors with experience considering large, diverse patient populations.<\/p>\n

That shift toward specialists, which HHS previewed in an April notice<\/u><\/span>, has alarmed stakeholders, who have watched medical specialties lobby for years to have a seat on the panel.<\/p>\n

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It would be \u201ca huge shift\u201d to appoint specialists, said Aaron Carroll, who follows the task force closely as president of AcademyHealth, a nonprofit representing health policy researchers.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf you put a kidney doc on, that\u2019s great when you\u2019re focusing on a recommendation for kidney disease, but not expertise for anything else,\u201d Carroll said.<\/p>\n

NOTUS previously reported<\/u><\/span> the administration was considering appointing Mark Shirley, whose daughter Malia Shirley works at HHS and is involved in the appointment process.<\/p>\n

An HHS spokeswoman confirmed that the task force meeting originally scheduled for July had been postponed until late August, but didn\u2019t provide a date for that meeting or respond to a question about when the new members will be named.<\/p>\n

The task force plays a major role in determining how easily Americans can access screenings for cancer and other illnesses by issuing recommendations and giving them grades based on the level of confidence in their net health benefit.<\/p>\n

State Medicaid expansion programs and most private insurers must cover services graded \u201cA\u201d or \u201cB\u201d without charging patients any copays or deductibles. Recommendations with these high grades include mammograms, colonoscopies, pap tests and screenings for a range of other conditions.<\/p>\n

When the task force does meet in August, it will face a backlog of recommendations to consider, former members said.<\/p>\n

The group had intended to vote over the past four canceled meetings on recommendations for prostate cancer screening and weight loss counseling for adults, among other topics. Members said they had been meeting informally but haven\u2019t been allowed to vote.<\/p>\n

Updated recommendations on cervical cancer screenings, perinatal depression, alcohol abuse and fall prevention for the elderly are also in limbo, finalized by the task force before meetings were frozen but not published or made formal by HHS.<\/p>\n

Read more Graham Platner Weighs the Future of His Campaign After New Allegation<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

HHS is interviewing new members for the preventative services task force that helps determine what insurers must cover for free.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":913,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[22],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-914","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-health-care"],"yoast_head":"\nRFK Jr. Is Preparing to Reshape Another Key Health Panel - Modern Home Journals<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/modernhomejournals.com\/?p=914\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"RFK Jr. Is Preparing to Reshape Another Key Health Panel - Modern Home Journals\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"HHS is interviewing new members for the preventative services task force that helps determine what insurers must cover for free.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/modernhomejournals.com\/?p=914\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Modern Home Journals\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2026-07-07T10:09:13+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"4 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/modernhomejournals.com\\\/?p=914#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/modernhomejournals.com\\\/?p=914\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"admin\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/modernhomejournals.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/533de239efc09a2ab59959cc1bff86d0\"},\"headline\":\"RFK Jr. Is Preparing to Reshape Another Key Health Panel\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-07-07T10:09:13+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/modernhomejournals.com\\\/?p=914\"},\"wordCount\":770,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/modernhomejournals.com\\\/?p=914#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/modernhomejournals.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/07\\\/fe4ef6cf3e1f80cb53ea10546a584a63-scaled.jpg\",\"articleSection\":[\"Health Care\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/modernhomejournals.com\\\/?p=914#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/modernhomejournals.com\\\/?p=914\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/modernhomejournals.com\\\/?p=914\",\"name\":\"RFK Jr. Is Preparing to Reshape Another Key Health Panel - Modern Home Journals\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/modernhomejournals.com\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/modernhomejournals.com\\\/?p=914#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/modernhomejournals.com\\\/?p=914#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/modernhomejournals.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/07\\\/fe4ef6cf3e1f80cb53ea10546a584a63-scaled.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-07-07T10:09:13+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/modernhomejournals.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/533de239efc09a2ab59959cc1bff86d0\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/modernhomejournals.com\\\/?p=914#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/modernhomejournals.com\\\/?p=914\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/modernhomejournals.com\\\/?p=914#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/modernhomejournals.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/07\\\/fe4ef6cf3e1f80cb53ea10546a584a63-scaled.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/modernhomejournals.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/07\\\/fe4ef6cf3e1f80cb53ea10546a584a63-scaled.jpg\",\"width\":2560,\"height\":1707,\"caption\":\"Secretary of Health and Human Services Robert F. 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