RFK Jr. – Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has terminated the appointments of the two doctors who chaired the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force, disrupting a panel that sets evidence-based “A” and “B” grades used to require free preventive services under the Aff
When the letters landed on May 11, two doctors who led the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force learned their time was over immediately—long before their multiyear terms were finished. Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. wrote that he was terminating the appointments of Dr. John Wong and Dr. Esa Davis, chairing the panel that helps determine when insurance must cover key preventive care without a co-pay.
The timing is sharp. Under the Affordable Care Act. most insurance plans are required to cover preventive services that receive an “A” or “B” recommendation grade from the task force. Those grades are built from experts scrutinizing the latest evidence across a wide range of disease prevention tools—ranging from depression screenings to the use of statins to prevent heart attacks.
But the task force has not been operating normally for much of the past year. The Department of Health and Human Services has largely sidelined the panel, indefinitely postponing scheduled public meetings. That left some long-expected updates—particularly on cervical cancer screenings and other topics—stalled. rather than moving through the process of public meetings and draft guideline reviews.
Kennedy’s letters. dated May 11. notified Wong and Davis that the appointments were being ended “immediately.” He did not spell out why the two leaders were removed. In the letters. Kennedy praised their “leadership. contributions and expertise. ” saying their work had advanced the task force’s mission “to improve the health of Americans.” He also encouraged both doctors to reapply. while stating he was reviewing task force appointments to “ensure clarity. continuity and confidence” in HHS oversight.
The deletions of the two chairs come after Kennedy had publicly criticized how the task force was functioning. Last month, Kennedy told lawmakers he was reforming the panel, calling it “lackadaisical” because it did not meet frequently enough. He said his goal included “for the first time. transparency. ” pointing to the task force’s public meetings. its practice of opening draft guidelines to public comment before finalizing them. and its publication of the scientific evidence behind its recommendations.
That promise has collided with the reality that. over the past year. the task force was not allowed to publish a final update to the cervical cancer screening guideline or to take steps to update recommendations about maternal depression. Former task force chairman Dr. Michael Silverstein. a pediatrician. said the disruption represented “a level of government intrusion into scientific processes that I’ve not experienced in my 10 years on the task force.”.
Some advocates had already expressed fear that Kennedy might replace the expert panel with less experienced political appointees. pointing to actions he had taken with a critical vaccine advisory committee. While Kennedy’s May 11 letters urged Wong and Davis to reapply. they still removed the panel’s two leaders—just as the task force’s process has been slowed and the next updates have remained in limbo.
The panel itself is not new. First created in the 1980s. the task force has staggered terms that normally allow health secretaries to appoint new members regularly without upending the whole structure. Aaron Carroll. of the nonpartisan health policy group AcademyHealth. said that staggered setup is designed to let secretaries put their stamp on the panel over time while keeping continuity.
Kennedy’s letters were first reported by The New York Times. An HHS spokesman did not respond to questions about why Wong and Davis were fired. The Department of Health and Human Services has not provided a public explanation for the abrupt change in leadership even as advocates and former officials describe interference with the task force’s scientific and public-facing work.
For millions of Americans who rely on preventive services covered under the Affordable Care Act’s “A” and “B” standard. the task force’s slowdown is not abstract. It is built into the calendar of screenings—mammograms. colonoscopies. and other services that depend on a recommendation grade from experts reviewing the evidence.
Now, with the chairs removed immediately on May 11, questions sharpen around what HHS will prioritize next and how quickly the task force can move from delayed meetings and incomplete updates back into a full, public process—one that determines what insurance must cover and what can’t wait.
RFK Jr. Robert F. Kennedy Jr. HHS U.S. Preventive Services Task Force John Wong Esa Davis preventive care Affordable Care Act A and B grades mammograms colonoscopies cervical cancer screening maternal depression insurance coverage