By Ahmed Aboulenein and Deena Beasley
WASHINGTON (Reuters) -U.S. Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. is planning to remove all the members of an advisory panel that determines what cancer screenings and other preventive health measures insurers must cover, the Wall Street Journal reported on Friday, citing people familiar with the matter.
A Department of Health and Human Services spokesperson said on Friday that Kennedy had not yet made a decision regarding the 16-member U.S. Preventive Services Task Force.
“No final decision has been made on how the USPSTF can better support HHS’ mandate to Make America Healthy Again,” the HHS spokesperson said.
The Journal said Kennedy planned to dismiss all 16 panel members in what would be the latest in a series of far-reaching actions by Kennedy, a long-time vaccine skeptic, to reshape U.S. regulation of vaccines, food and medicine.
In June he fired all 17 members of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices, a panel of vaccine experts, replacing them with seven handpicked members, including known vaccine skeptics.
The USPSTF includes medical experts serving staggered four-year terms on a volunteer basis. Its role in choosing what services will be covered by insurers was established under the 2010 Affordable Care Act, also known as Obamacare.
The 40-year-old group, whose recommendations provide guidance to doctors, looks at everything from routine breast cancer screening to drugs to prevent HIV infection.
The U.S. Supreme Court in June upheld the constitution of the task force and ruled in favor of its recommendation to cover preventive care.
Though made up of an independent group of volunteer experts, members are selected by the health secretary without Senate confirmation and it relies on support from the department’s Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality.
A group of 104 health organizations, including the American Medical Association and the American Academy of Pediatrics, in early July sent a letter to Congressional health committees, urging them “to protect the integrity” of the task force.
The task force has been criticized by some conservatives as too left-leaning.
(Reporting by Deena Beasly in Los Angeles, Ahmed Aboulenein in Washington, and Mariam Sunny in Bengaluru; Editing by Anil D’Silva and Rosalba O’Brien)
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