[News] Senators demand explanation for US Preventive Services Task Force halt

Nineteen US senators have written to Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. demanding an explanation for the year-long inactivity of the US Preventive Services Task Force (USPSTF), the independent panel that for four decades has determined which cancer screenings and preventive services Americans receive at no cost. The senators also called on Kennedy to submit a legally required annual report to Congress and to fill five vacancies among the panel's 16 seats. The USPSTF's recommendations directly influence coverage of mammography, colonoscopy, lung cancer screening, and other critical early-detection tools under the Affordable Care Act. A prolonged halt in the Task Force's work could delay updates to screening guidelines and jeopardize no-cost access to preventive cancer care for millions of Americans.