Senator, 100 health groups sound alarm after ‘abrupt’ cancellation of USPSTF meeting
A U.S. senator is sounding the alarm after the “abrupt” cancellation of the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force meeting on Thursday. Meanwhile, over 100 health organizations are urging Congress to protect the influential volunteer panel, which dictates whether insurers cover imaging and other healthcare services.
The USPSTF was slated to meet on July 10 to discuss healthful eating, physical activity and other measures to prevent cardiovascular disease, Axios reported. However, Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s office reportedly tabled the meeting—one of three annual in-person gatherings for the 16-member task force.
Sen. Patty Murray, D-Wash., was among those expressing concern about the cancellation this week. She noted that the Affordable Care Act gave USPSTF recommendations the “force of the law for the first time” in 2010. This ensures that payers cover mammograms, lung cancer screenings and other preventive care with no-out-of-pocket charge.
The Supreme Court ruled on June 27 that USPSTF members are “inferior officers,” consistent with the Constitution’s Appointments Clause. Doing so affirmed the task force’s authority to dictate coverage decisions.
“The U.S. Preventive Services Task Force is essential to ensuring cancer screenings and other lifesaving preventive services are covered by insurance at no cost to patients—and the abrupt postponement of tomorrow’s task force meeting should set off alarm bells for everyone worried about what our conspiracy-promoting health secretary is up to next,” Murray said in a statement July 9. “I’m concerned Secretary Kennedy may be taking the first steps to dismantle the Preventive Services Task Force and attack its mission and commitment to scientific evidence, just like he has done at the CDC’s vaccine advisory committee and across our nation’s public health agencies.”
After the 6-3 SCOTUS decision last month, court watchers have noted the ruling affirms Secretary Kennedy’s authority to remove task force members at will. Some have urged the HHS leader to do just that, amid concern the USPSTF has a liberal bias. The Supreme Court ruling came in the case of Braidwood Management Inc. et al. vs. Robert Kennedy Jr. et al. (formerly v. Xavier Becerra). Conservative business owners filed the original complaint, contending forcing their companies to cover items such as HIV prevention drugs violated their religious freedoms.
"It's past time for Kennedy to heal the wounds woke deep-state appointees have inflicted on HHS and start from scratch with an objective, non-ideological USPSTF,” Joseph Addington, associate editor for The American Conservative, wrote in an opinion piece published July 9.
Meanwhile, over 100 health organizations penned a letter to leaders in the House and Senate the same day, asking lawmakers to protect the USPSTF. Those signing the message included the American Academy of Family Physicians, American Board of Medical Specialties, American College of Emergency Physicians, and the Association for Diagnostics & Laboratory Medicine, among others. They noted that the task force’s members are experts in medicine, research and public health and have been “extensively vetted” for conflicts of interest. Recommendations are reached through a “rigorous, multi-step process,” done in collaboration with the public and experts in primary care and clinical research.
“In the wake of the ruling in Kennedy v. Braidwood—which verified the constitutionality of the USPSTF and reemphasized the authority that has always existed for the Secretary of HHS to appoint and remove task force members at will—it is critical that Congress protects the integrity of the USPSTF from intentional or unintentional political interference,” the groups wrote July 9. “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.”
MedPage also shared further details about the meeting, citing anonymous sources. It said the abrupt cancellation Monday “came as a shock,” with participants already prepared, with travel accommodations booked. A source said USPSTF members are concerned they could be dismissed, after Kennedy recently did the same to members of the CDC’s Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices. HHS has not shared a reason for the cancelation nor rescheduled the meeting, according to published reports.
Marty Stempniak has covered healthcare since 2012, with his byline appearing in the American Hospital Association's member magazine, Modern Healthcare and McKnight's. Prior to that, he wrote about village government and local business for his hometown newspaper in Oak Park, Illinois. He won a Peter Lisagor and Gold EXCEL awards in 2017 for his coverage of the opioid epidemic.