USPSTF

RFK Jr. may be about to demolish preventive health panel, health groups fear

“Worrying”

With the latest cancellation, experts fear the USPSTF is next. “This is very worrying, because if past is prologue, it may suggest that they are preparing to eliminate or emasculate the committee,” Peter Lurie, executive director of the Center for Science in the Public Interest, told The New York Times.

Such concerns were first raised after a June 27 US Supreme Court ruling that upheld the provision in the Affordable Care Act that requires health plans to cover USPSTF A- and B-grade recommendations. The ruling preserved critical preventive care coverage but affirmed Kennedy’s authority to control the task force—such as replacing members and undoing recommendations.

In a letter to Congress this week, health and medical organizations urged lawmakers to protect the USPSTF from Kennedy, noting the Supreme Court ruling. In the wake of the ruling, they wrote, “It is critical that Congress protects the integrity of the USPSTF from intentional or unintentional political interference. The loss of trustworthiness in the rigorous and nonpartisan work of the Task Force would devastate patients, hospital systems, and payers as misinformation creates barriers to accessing lifesaving and cost effective care.”

The letter was led by nonprofit health professional organization AcademyHealth and signed by over 100 other organizations, including the American Medical Association, the American Academy of Pediatrics, and the American Public Health Association.

SCOTUS upholds part of ACA that makes preventive care fully covered

ACA, health, preventive services, US Supreme Court, USPSTF / DJ Henderson / June 28, 2025

The USPSTF is made up of 16 medical experts who carefully review scientific data and run models to assess what preventive health interventions are best, using a framework of recommendation gradings from A to F. Any recommendations graded A or B by the task force are required by the ACA to be covered by health plans at no cost to patients.

The US health department argued that the task force members are, in fact, appointed, and under control of the health secretary, a role currently filled by anti-vaccine advocate Robert F. Kennedy Jr.

Two lower courts in Texas sided with the Christian group, saying that the government violated the appointments clause.

But today, in a 6–3 ruling, the Supreme Court disagreed. Chief Justice John Roberts and Justices Amy Coney Barrett, Brett Kavanaugh, Elena Kagan, Ketanji Brown Jackson, and Sonia Sotomayor made up the majority.

Writing on their behalf, Kavanaugh explained: “Task Force members are supervised and directed by the Secretary, who in turn answers to the President, preserving the chain of command in Article II.”

While the ruling means that coverage of preventive health care is no longer under threat, the ruling clarifies that the health secretary has direct authority over the USPSTF. The clarification raises concern that the current secretary, Kennedy, could remove task force members and/or undo recommendations to suit his personal ideology, as he is now doing with the vaccine advisory board at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

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