Key facts
- Eight new members were added to the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force.
- The task force decides which preventive medical care should be provided to patients at no cost.
- The committee's decisions apply to most health insurance plans.
- New members include a pediatric hematologist-oncologist, a pediatrician, a cardiovascular expert, a health finance specialist, a preventive cardiology professor, a family medicine physician, a gastroenterology specialist, and a diagnostic r
US Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. on Thursday named eight new members to the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force, the committee responsible for determining which preventive medical care should be provided to patients at no cost under most health insurance plans. The task force, which typically has 16 members and meets three times annually, last convened a year ago. The newly appointed members include pediatric hematologist-oncologist Seth Corey, pediatrician Patrick Hunter, cardiovascular expert Ronald Karlsberg, health finance specialist Stephen Parente, preventive cardiology professor Venkatesh Murthy, family medicine physician Goldie Stands-Over-Bull, gastroenterology specialist Louis Wilson, and diagnostic radiologist Dennis Wulfeck. The committee's decisions influence coverage for medical tests and treatments such as routine breast cancer screening and HIV prevention drugs. The task force operates as an independent group of volunteer experts, supported by the Department of Health and Human Services' Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality.