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BumRushDaShow

(174,337 posts) Sun Jul 12, 2026, 11:52 AM 10 hrs ago

RFK Jr.'s focus on preventive health panel provokes new fears

Source: The Hill

07/12/26 6:00 AM ET

Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has his sights set on remaking another influential health panel, one that determines what preventive medical services insurers must cover for free.

After Kennedy blocked the panel from meeting on multiple occasions, declined to replace members whose terms expired and fired its leaders in May, the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force is finally set to convene in August, with potentially as many as eight new members. It will be the group’s first public meeting in 17 months, after the administration canceled four prior meetings.

Neither Kennedy or HHS has publicly offered an explanation of why they are changing the panel or what they think its role should be, raising concerns of political interference into an independent panel which historically has been apolitical. Former members said HHS has blocked the panel from beginning work on new topics, and suppressed the release of four new guidelines, including new recommendations on cervical cancer screening.

HHS did not respond to a list of questions about the secretary’s plans for the task force, or why the administration has blocked the release of four recommendations.

Read more: https://thehill.com/policy/healthcare/5963488-kennedy-remakes-preventive-panel/

8 replies

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Highlight:

RFK Jr.'s focus on preventive health panel provokes new fears (Original Post) BumRushDaShow 10 hrs ago OP

They want us dead. yardwork 10 hrs ago #1

The panel makes its recommendations using a grading scale, and ObamaCare requires insurers to cover services the task fo riversedge 9 hrs ago #2

Kennedy's approach is indeed preventive - he prevents people from getting vaccinated and from Martin68 8 hrs ago #3

If there really was... GiqueCee 8 hrs ago #4

Brain Worm is a walking, talking cadaver with a history of playing with animal corpses and bathing in sewage. Karasu 7 hrs ago #5

We have something to fear and it ain't fear, it is RFKjr. twodogsbarking 6 hrs ago #6

"You'll only get care if you're rich." -RFK Jr., probably sakabatou 4 hrs ago #7

I Always Hope He's Going To Make Things Better By Mistake DrFunkenstein 4 hrs ago #8

yardwork

(70,252 posts)

1. They want us dead.

Reply to BumRushDaShow (Original post)

Sun Jul 12, 2026, 11:55 AM

10 hrs ago

riversedge

(82,505 posts)

2. The panel makes its recommendations using a grading scale, and ObamaCare requires insurers to cover services the task fo

Reply to BumRushDaShow (Original post)

Sun Jul 12, 2026, 12:12 PM

9 hrs ago

I do not trust anything about RFK Jr. Period!!

............It was first established by the Reagan administration in 1984 and has historically been comprised of a group of primary care doctors appointed by the health secretary.

The panel makes its recommendations using a grading scale, and ObamaCare requires insurers to cover services the task force recommends with a “grade” of A or B at no cost to patients.

The task force has historically been nonpolitical and enjoyed bipartisan support in Congress. While the services it evaluates sometimes spark debate among medical experts, they rarely attract political controversy.

Aaron Carroll, the president and CEO of AcademyHealth, a nonprofit representing health policy researchers, said inserting politics into the panel threatens to undermine its reputation.

“The concern would be that there is care that is evidence-based, that is not being reviewed right now, that is not being issued, that people would benefit from every single day, that is not getting covered [by insurance] because they’re not meeting,” Carroll said. ........................