RFK Jr. fires leaders of task force setting preventive care guidelines

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The Trump administration has fired two leaders of the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force, an influential panel that reviews evidence and helps determine which preventive services most insurance plans must cover without a co-pay. In letters dated May 11, Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. terminated the appointments of Dr. John Wong and Dr. Esa Davis before the end of their multiyear terms, according to a May 20 report by the Associated Press.

The letters did not spell out a reason for the removals, but Kennedy’s message to the two doctors said their “leadership, contributions and expertise” had advanced the task force’s work “to improve the health of Americans.” Kennedy also encouraged them to reapply and said he was reviewing task force appointments “to ensure clarity, continuity and confidence” in HHS oversight, the AP reported.

The task force, first created in the 1980s, is made up of experts who scrutinize the latest research behind a range of disease-prevention tools and screenings. The panel updates guidelines with letter grades that reflect the strength of the science, and under the Affordable Care Act, most insurance plans are required to cover preventive services rated “A” or “B” without requiring a co-pay.

Over the past year, the task force’s work has also been affected by actions taken by the Department of Health and Human Services, which already had largely sidelined the group. The AP reported that HHS indefinitely postponed scheduled public meetings, leaving some long-expected updates — including work related to cervical cancer screening and maternal depression — in limbo.

The AP reported that the letters were first made public by The New York Times. An HHS spokesman did not respond to questions about why Wong and Davis were fired.

Kennedy previously told lawmakers that he planned to reform the task force, describing it as “lackadaisical” and saying it should meet more frequently and have “for the first time, transparency.” According to the AP, the panel holds public meetings, opens its draft guidelines to public comment before finalizing them, and publishes the scientific evidence behind its recommendations.

Some health advocates had worried that Kennedy was preparing to replace the expert panel with less experienced political appointees, similar to changes he made to a vaccine advisory committee, the AP reported. Former task force chairman Dr. Michael Silverstein, a pediatrician, said the department’s actions amounted to intrusive interference in scientific decision-making.

“This is a level of government intrusion into scientific processes that I’ve not experienced in my 10 years on the task force,” Silverstein said, according to the AP.

Aaron Carroll, of the nonpartisan policy group AcademyHealth, told the AP that the panel’s staggered terms are designed so that normally health secretaries can regularly appoint new members and make their mark without upending the entire task force.

While the administration said it was reviewing appointments to ensure “clarity, continuity and confidence,” the immediate effect of the firings is that Wong and Davis will no longer lead the panel’s work during a period when HHS had already delayed meetings and paused parts of the task force’s update schedule.

The removals also raise a broader question about how much independence the task force will retain as it continues to produce evidence-based grades that shape what preventive care Americans receive through their insurance.