Exclusive-US postpones third consecutive meeting of preventive health panel

The March meeting of the U.S. advisory panel that determines what cancer screenings and other preventive health measures insurers must cover has been

postponed, according to a spokesman for the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.



The 16-member U.S. Preventive Services Task Force, which usually holds three annual meetings, last met in March of 2025. Its November 2025 meeting did not take place due to a government shutdown. The previous meeting, set for July 2025, was abruptly canceled by HHS.



"The first USPSTF meeting of this year has been postponed and will be rescheduled in the coming months," HHS spokesman Andrew Nixon said in an email on Tuesday. He did not provide a reason for the latest postponement.



Concern has circulated since last year that Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. might disband the panel as part of an effort to reshape U.S. regulation of vaccines, food and medicine.