Nineteen Senate Democrats have demanded Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. stop blocking the United States Preventive Services Task Force from meeting. The panel, which normally convenes three times yearly to recommend preventive services like mammograms and diabetes screenings, hasn't met since March 2025. Kennedy canceled meetings last summer and fall, then postponed this month's session.

Without the panel's recommendations, insurance coverage for preventive care faces uncertainty since most plans must cover services the task force endorses. The senators' letter, signed by leaders including Chuck Schumer and Elizabeth Warren, warns that halting the panel's work jeopardizes Americans' access to updated preventive interventions. Kennedy has also failed to appoint replacements for members whose terms expired in December.

The task force couldn't update recommendations or publish its legally required annual report to Congress last year. This report typically guides federal research funding by identifying gaps in scientific evidence. A Department of Health and Human Services spokesman didn't respond to requests for comment. Kennedy's actions mirror his replacement of a CDC vaccine advisory panel, though he hasn't yet appointed new members to the preventive services task force.