08.11.2025 / Press Release

HHS Secretary Kennedy Should Protect, Not Fire the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Families USA, along with SEIU, Small Business Majority and nearly 200 organizations, are insisting U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Robert F. Kennedy, Jr, defend the mission of the United States Preventive Services Task Force (USPSTF) and preserve it in its entirety.

The organizations sent a letter to the Secretary on the heels of widespread news reports indicating that Secretary Kennedy is considering removing the current USPSTF members en masse, without transparent and evidence-based justification. “We urge you to maintain the current structure, membership, and processes of the USPSTF to ensure that this objective, scientifically independent panel of experts can continue to make unbiased, evidence-based recommendations about clinical preventive services that improve the lives of people across our nation,” the groups said.

The groups represent patients, parents, workers, small businesses, health care providers, public health professionals and other health care consumers. They underscored the importance of the USPSTF’s 40-year track record of helping to create a health care system that values prevention, equity, and affordability. They also highlighted USPSTF’s experts’ independent work, making unbiased, evidence-based recommendations that help primary care providers know which preventive services to recommend for their patients and directly influence which preventive services health plans make available to Americans without cost sharing.

They conclude the letter by saying “We cannot “Make America Healthy Again” without trusted, evidence-based, and affordable preventive health services. We urge you to defend the mission of the USPSTF and preserve it in its entirety…” and urging Secretary Kennedy to “…stand with patients, uphold scientific independence, and reaffirm your commitment to a preventive, patient-centered approach to health care. Protecting the USPSTF is protecting the future of American health.”