Washington D.C. – Last month, in an especially out-of-touch moment for crypto billionaire Donald Trump, the President declared “affordability” to be a Democratic “hoax” while nearly half of Americans said they struggle to afford health care costs. Now HHS Secretary Kennedy is threatening to jack up preventative health care costs on millions of insured Americans by obstructing all activity of The U.S. Preventive Services Task Force – an independent panel of experts tasked with reviewing evidence and making recommendations for what screenings, counseling, and preventive medications at no cost to patients under most insurance plans, by law.
According to new reporting from the New York Times, “The task force has not met in person since March. Without citing a reason, Mr. Kennedy abruptly postponed its July meeting … Amid the fall federal shutdown, his office also postponed the task force’s November meeting. Neither was rescheduled …The task force also issues a legally mandated report to Congress every year, highlighting evidence gaps that help set priorities for research funding, but no report was published in 2025. And the terms of five of its 16 members were scheduled to end in December; it is unclear whether they are being replaced.”
The Times reports Kennedy’s obstruction is keeping the task force from finalizing at least four key draft recommendations, including to “screen adults for unhealthy alcohol use, endorse self-swabs for cervical cancer screening and provide counseling to women at increased risk for perinatal depression, as well as a recommendation against vitamin D supplementation for the prevention of fractures and falls in older people.”
The Trump administration has had it out for the Task Force for some time. Last June, when the conservative U.S. Supreme Court ruled that the Affordable Care Act’s “requirement that most private insurers and Medicaid expansion programs cover preventive services recommended by U.S. Preventive Services Task Force,” the Trump administration argued in legal briefs that Secretary Kennedy can veto Task Force recommendations, “something that no prior administration has ever done.”
“Undermining this task force and preventing it from developing recommendations that have been key in combating chronic disease is the latest effort by the Trump-RFK Jr. HHS to make America sicker and health care less affordable,” said Kayla Hancock, Director of Public Health Watch, a project of Protect Our Care. “Silencing medical experts has become par for the course for Secretary Kennedy, who prefers to dictate health policy based on his personal ideology rather than peer-reviewed data and science. It’s just the latest Trump administration effort to undermine the Affordable Care Act that — despite Trump’s best efforts — is more popular than ever to the point that even 17 House Republicans broke ranks to support extending ACA tax credits. Kennedy’s sidelining of this task force will result in fewer preventive treatments covered by insurance, and patients will pay the price – either with their wallets or their health.”
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