Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. is moving to overhaul the US Preventive Services Task Force, seeking to expand its membership beyond primary care doctors to include specialists. In a notice published in the Federal Register, HHS encouraged anesthesiologists, cardiologists, oncologists, radiologists, obstetricians and other specialists to apply, with the agency anticipating new members would start serving in July.
Task Force Impact and Operations
The task force recommends screenings for cancer, diabetes, heart diseases, sexually transmitted infections and other preventive care. Insurers must cover preventive services that receive an A or B grade from the panel at no cost to patients, thanks to the Affordable Care Act. The task force has not met for more than a year and has been unable to advance recommendations under review or in development, including those related to autism spectrum disorder screening, breast cancer medication, chronic kidney disease screening and behavioral counseling for sexually transmitted infections. Kennedy told a House committee this week that the task force, established in 1984, “has been lackadaisical. It’s not been doing its job.”
Expert Concerns About Specialist Membership
The task force evaluates evidence across 92 topics, including cancer screening, behavioral counseling, chronic disease prevention and maternal health. Dr. Aaron Carroll, CEO of AcademyHealth, stated that “no single specialist has deep expertise across all of them, which is precisely why the task force has historically been composed of generalist primary care clinicians.” He noted that the current solicitation references “the ability to review scientific evidence” but that “reviewing evidence is not the same as having clinical expertise in prevention.”
Dr. Alex Krist, a professor of family medicine at Virginia Commonwealth University and former chair of the task force, noted that specialists tend to be most knowledgeable at treating conditions, not at preventing them, and that “interjecting the treatment perspective too much might miss some of the balance that’s needed in a good prevention recommendation.” Experts also raised concerns that specialists may have financial incentives to push for more screenings, even if evidence does not back the recommendation.
This article is an AI-assisted summary. All facts and figures are drawn from the original report: https://ktvz.com/health/cnn-health/2026/04/23/rfk-jr-wants-to-add-specialists-to-preventive-care-panel-experts-say-its-the-wrong-move/