Doctors on key US health panel impacting coverage rates accused of being too ‘woke’

An “independent” advisory panel of non-federal experts that determines which preventive health care services insurers should cover has been accused of being staffed by doctors who have shown a tendency to prioritize “woke” left-wing diversity, equity and inclusion in their work, rather than evidence-based science.

The United States Preventive Services Task Force (USPSTF), a committee of volunteer physicians who serve four-year terms appointed by the Secretary of Health, is composed of experts in preventive medicine, which includes services such as screening tests, immunizations, behavioral counseling, and medications that can prevent the development or worsening of health conditions. One of the task force’s primary functions is to evaluate the effectiveness, costs and benefits of preventive care services, whose recommendations are then used to shape what preventive care insurance providers should cover.

The task force’s ability to make these health care recommendations, coupled with what appears to be a membership largely made up of left-wing DEI advocates, has raised concerns about how the task force will influence health care.

The Wall Street Journal reported in July that sources familiar with the health minister Robert F. Kennedy Jr Thinking said he was planning to fire all 16 USPSTF members for being too “woke.”

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RFK Jr. speaks at the 2025 Rx and Illicit Drug Summit at Gaylord Opryland Resort and Convention Center in Nashville, Tennessee, Thursday, April 24, 2025. (© Nicole Hester/The Tennessean/USA Today Network)

“The Department of Health and Human Services has been briefed on the ideological issues with USPSTF members raised by letters from Republicans in the Senatemembers Republican Party Doctors Caucusand A large group of doctors Including the Associations of American Physicians and Surgeons, Frontline Physicians of America, and the Pennsylvania Direct Primary Care Society. The Department of Health and Human Services is disturbed by these allegations and is investigating further,” Emily Hilliard, a spokeswoman for the Department of Health and Human Services, told Fox News Digital when asked about Kennedy’s plans for the future of the current USPSTF.

Meanwhile, others, including the GOP Physicians Caucus and major physician groups including the Association of American Physicians and Surgeons, have sounded alarm bells about possible left-wing bias in the USPSTF. One group that has also sounded alarm bells about the AAF is the conservative watchdog group known as the American Accountability Foundation (AAF), which has just released a new report alleging that the AAF has been “entirely hijacked by left-wing partisans for the purpose of weaponizing science to spread leftist ideology.”

The AAF report cites Dr. Michael Silverstein, the task force’s current chair, who, in 2023, said the USPSTF was “dedicated to…addressing critical health equity issues” after being reappointed to the task force’s leadership team under the Biden administration. As vice chair of the task force in 2023, Silverstein co-authored a report Annual Report to Congress Highlighting a new partnership with the Gay and Lesbian Medical Association (GLMA) aimed at helping staff be more “inclusive”.

Partnership according to the report to congress, It was intended to help develop “new recommendations on screening for anxiety disorders, and other conditions affecting LGBTQ+ communities to enhance the health, well-being, and quality of life of their patients.”

Other recommendations issued by the USPSTF in the past few years include the 2022 plan recommendation This indicates the need for clinicians to take race into account when screening for anxiety in children and adolescents. Latest recommendation, Published in April, it said doctors should pay special attention to breastfeeding in black mothers because of “the lasting psychological impact and stigma of enslaved black women forced to work as nurses.”

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Meanwhile, A 2021 a report of the USPSTF, on Addressing Gender and Sexuality When Making Preventive Health Care Recommendations, included an analysis of how sex-specific terminology, rather than “gender-neutral” terminology, plays a role in meeting the needs of “diverse populations.” Think “pregnant women” versus “expectant mothers,” a switch that eventually became part of the task force’s official guidelines.

“In order to develop its methods, the USPSTF reviewed its previous recommendations that included the use of sex and gender terminology, reviewed the approaches of other guideline-setting bodies, and empirically tested strategies for addressing sexual and gender diversity,” the report said. “Based on the findings, the USPSTF intends to use a comprehensive approach to identify issues related to sex and gender early in the guideline development process; evaluate the applicability, diversity, and quality of evidence as a function of sex and gender; ensure clarity in the use of language regarding sex and gender; and identify evidence gaps related to gender and sexuality.”

Another major milestone in the task force’s mission to advance “health equity” was the 2024 launch “Health Equity Framework” It aims to incorporate gender theory and other leftist ideologies into its operations.

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In addition to the work done by the Task Force, its members also have an extensive history of publishing research focused on “health equity” and other components of DEI, such as how race affects certain health outcomes, or how gender and sexuality are addressed when making recommendations for clinical preventive services.

“National Institutes of Health Approaches to Prevention Workshop: Achieving Health Equity in Preventive Services,” is the title of a scientific research report co-authored by task force member, Dr. Sandra Mellon Underwood. “Continuing to Integrate Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion into Medical Education Research” and “Health Equity Starts with Us: Recommendations from the Indiana Institute for Clinical and Translational Sciences Task Force on Racial Justice and Equity in Health,” co-authored by members of the USPSTF.

“Anti-racist initiatives, such as incorporating community support people (e.g., lay doulas) into maternity care for Black people, can reduce disparities in outcomes by addressing both interpersonal racism and lack of workforce diversity caused by structural racism,” stated a May 2024 research paper co-authored by USPSTF lay member Dr. Alicia Fernandez.

The US Preventive Services Task Force (USPSTF) has been accused of infiltrating “woke” leftists, with sources familiar with Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy saying. Kennedy said he intended to dismiss all sixteen of them. (iStock, Getty Images)

Members of the supposedly “independent” USPSTF have used their positions of expertise to fight Trump administration priorities as well, such as those on abortion and research funding reforms.

For example, Dr. David Chelmo, another member of the task force, has appeared in several physician-backed ACLU memos about efforts opposing the Trump administration, including one challenging Trump’s efforts to implement greater protections around the mail-order abortion drug called mifepristone, which many pro-life obstetricians and gynecologists have warned is dangerous if not dispensed in person. In March, Dr. Carlos Roberto Jaen, another member of the task force, signed a letter along with 1,900 others accusing the Trump administration of weakening American research capacity and putting Americans at risk.

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When making recommendations for preventive care services, the USPSTF assigns a letter grade of A, B, C, D, or I.

Any service given a grade of “A” or “B” must be covered by private insurance companies under a mandate in Affordable Care Act (ACA). These scores are also tied to coverage requirements for public insurance companies, such as Medicare and Medicaid.

In 2019, the task force gave HIV prophylaxis (PrEP) a grade of “A,” and its guidelines were later clarified in 2023. The current vice chair of the task force, Dr. John Wong, also co-authored a 2017 paper on how expanding the use of pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) could help reduce the spread of HIV among gay men. But according to the AAF, active promotion of PrEP creates an atmosphere of dangerous sexual activity that poses public health risks due to what the organization says is the promotion of risky sexual behaviors. Additionally, at least one Christian-owned company said that forcing insurance providers to cover drugs that promote risky sexual behaviors violates their rights.

Earlier this summer, supreme court Considered whether the USPSTF’s authority to mandate preventive health care coverage by granting it either a grade of “A” or “B” was unconstitutional. The group that brought the case, Braidwood Management Inc., initially objected on religious grounds to the ACA’s requirement that insurance providers cover certain HIV prevention drugs for which the task force issued an “A” recommendation, specifically HIV prophylaxis (PrEP). However, the case ultimately turned on a question about the legitimacy of the USPSTF’s recommendatory authority, and whether circumventing the Senate’s approval of its members was permissible under Article II of the Constitution on advice and consent.

This photo shows the facade of the Supreme Court building at dusk. (Drew Angerer/Getty Images)

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Both the Biden and Trump administrations have embraced the argument that Health Secretary He alone has absolute control over the appointment or dismissal of USPSTF members. The Trump administration also argued in its briefs to the Supreme Court that the secretary has the authority to block or overturn the task force’s recommendations as well, according to the SCOUTS blog.

Ultimately, the Supreme Court voted 6 to 3, in favor of the federal government’s argument that the U.S. Preventive Services Force appointment process, and thus its legitimacy, did not violate the Constitution.

Shortly after the Supreme Court’s decision in the Braidwood case, Health Secretary Kennedy reportedly postponed a long-scheduled meeting of the USPSTF task force, the same step he took before firing every member of the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP), the key federal entity that helps shape federal vaccine policy. Kennedy has long been a critic of traditional vaccination policies and practices.

The Wall Street Journal reported in July, shortly after the Supreme Court’s decision in the Braidwood case, that sources familiar with Kennedy’s thinking said he was planning to fire all 16 members of the U.S. Preventive Services Force for being too “woke.”