WASHINGTON — The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services has postponed the March meeting of the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force, the advisory panel that shapes which preventive services insurers must cover, according to statements cited by Reuters and NBC News.
HHS said the meeting will be rescheduled in the coming months, a message also reported by CNN and MedPage Today, leaving the timing of the panel’s next session uncertain.
Why the task force matters
The USPSTF typically meets three times a year and is made up of independent volunteer experts who develop evidence-based recommendations on preventive care, a structure outlined across reports from Reuters, NBC News, CNN, and MedPage Today.
Those recommendations determine which screenings and preventive treatments — including some cancer screenings and HIV prevention services — must be covered without cost-sharing under most health plans, as noted by Reuters and echoed by NBC News.
Questions about independence
The panel has not met since March 2025, meaning the gap has reached roughly a year, a point highlighted by CNN and confirmed in reporting from Reuters and MedPage Today.
The postponement has fueled questions about the panel’s future and independence, with coverage noting concerns that Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. could move to disband or reshape the group as part of broader regulatory changes, according to Reuters and NBC News.
What happens next
HHS has not given a specific reason for the March delay, but reiterated that the meeting will be rescheduled, a statement also summarized in Reuters-syndicated updates on MarketScreener and KSGF.
Additional Details Reported
Some reports noted that prior meetings scheduled for July and November 2025 were canceled, with the November session disrupted by a government shutdown, details cited by Reuters and NBC News.
Other coverage highlighted past federal panel shake-ups under Kennedy, including changes to advisory committees on vaccines, autism policy, and Alzheimer’s, as described by Reuters and NBC News.
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Image credit: G. Edward Johnson, “Sign for the Department of Health and Human Services headquarters” (Feb. 7, 2025), Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 4.0. https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Dept_Health_and_Human_Services_HQ_sign_Washington_DC_2025-02-07_13-58-43_1.jpg
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