After a yearlong, unexplained hiatus for the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force, which provides clinical preventive health recommendations to Congress every year, HHS is seeking new task force members.
During a dayslong gamut of multiple Congressional committee hearings, HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. said April 16 that the preventive services task force has been “lackadaisical and negligent for 20 years.” He said the task force will meet more frequently than three times a year and be more transparent.
For decades, the task force has helped determine which preventive medical services insurers must cover for free, according to The Hill.
In a Federal Register notice published April 23, HHS’ Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality said it is requesting nominations for “individuals qualified to serve” as task force members. May 23 is the deadline for nominations, with appointments expected in June.
The Preventive Services Task Force is a volunteer panel of national experts that was launched in 1984. They usually meet three times a year, but the group did not meet in July 2025, November 2025 or March 2026. The government shutdown canceled the November meeting; HHS did not clarify the reason for the other two postponements.
The group’s most recent report to Congress was shared in November 2024, which said the task force has created nearly 300 national preventive health recommendations over the last 40 years.
The April Federal Register notice said HHS is seeking nominations for physicians and experts in health economics. The task force has historically comprised 16 members. The notice did not specify how many people might serve on the new task force.
To qualify, HHS’ Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality said these skills should be highlighted in nomination applications:
1. The critical evaluation of research published in peer-reviewed literature
2. Clinical prevention and health promotion in primary care and specialty settings
3. Implementation of evidence-based recommendations in clinical practice including at the clinician-patient level, practice level and health-system level.
“Additionally, the task force benefits from members with expertise in the following areas: public health, application of science to health policy, and communication of scientific findings to multiple audiences including healthcare professionals, policymakers and the general public,” the notice said.
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