2026-04-02 10:03:53 UTC / 路透社
作者：迪娜·比斯利
2026年4月2日 上午10:03 UTC 更新于1小时前
节点运行失败
美国卫生与公众服务部部长小罗伯特·F·肯尼迪在2026年2月23日于华盛顿特区卫生与公众服务部总部举行的新闻发布会上，就个体化药物和生物疗法审批新指南发表讲话。路透社/内森·霍华德/档案照片 购买授权许可
- 专家警告延误阻碍疾病筛查指南更新
- 若无该专责小组推荐，保险公司可能不会为新型预防服务付费
- 医疗团体与参议员呼吁恢复该委员会运作，称此举关乎患者信任与保障缺口
（2026年4月2日 路透电） 医疗专家表示，美国卫生部长小罗伯特·F·肯尼迪搁置负责确定免费预防医疗服务准入标准的咨询委员会，导致癌症、心脏病及其他病症的筛查指南更新工作陷入延误。
这个拥有16名成员的美国预防服务工作组最后一次会议已于一年多前召开。连续三次计划中的会议均被取消，且尚未任命新成员来接替五名于去年12月任期届满的志愿委员。
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该委员会成立于1984年，负责确定哪些医疗检测和治疗项目——例如常规癌症筛查或艾滋病预防——可在健康保险计划中免费提供，同时也可判定某项检测或治疗不应作为常规项目。
“没有该工作组的背书，商业保险公司可以自行决定是否为这些新型预防服务买单，”弗吉尼亚联邦大学家庭医学医生、该预防护理委员会前主席亚历克斯·克里斯特博士表示。
美国癌症协会称，早期癌症检测可挽救生命并节省成本，但前期投入不菲。近期一项研究测算，美国平均风险女性的终身乳房X光检查成本约为7000美元。
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该工作组通常每年发布约22份草案与最终指南，去年仅发布了7份，而今年截至目前尚未发布任何一份。
该委员会当时正处于多项指南的更新初期阶段，包括前列腺癌筛查、与乳腺癌相关的基因突变基因检测，以及为高风险人群开具乳腺癌预防药物的相关指导。
值得信赖的专家
“我们必须依靠一群经过权衡利弊、关注全民整体健康且力求不造成伤害的可信专家团队，”美国临床肿瘤学会首席医疗官朱莉·格拉洛博士表示，“患者也确实信任这些指南。”
尽管医疗团体并非总是同意该委员会的指南内容，但它们已呼吁国会“保护该工作组的公正性”。上个月，19名美国参议员致信肯尼迪，敦促他支持该委员会的工作。
搁置该工作组的做法与美国总统唐纳德·特朗普概述的重塑联邦卫生监管的整体目标相符。
“本届政府不仅希望削减监管，还肯定希望缩减《平价医疗法案》规定的强制福利范围，”保守派智库美国企业研究所的资深名誉研究员约瑟夫·安托斯表示。
美国最高法院在2025年一起涉及艾滋病预防保险覆盖范围的裁决中确认，卫生部长对该预防护理专责小组拥有管辖权。
该工作组2023年曾建议高风险人群接受药物治疗以预防艾滋病毒感染，但该指南尚未更新，以纳入吉利德科学公司（GILD.O）新型半年一次注射剂Yeztugo。
美国最大健康保险公司联合健康集团在一封电子邮件中表示，因此，Yeztugo的患者费用由各保险计划自行设定。该保险公司称，其商业计划为老年艾滋病预防药物提供零自付费用覆盖。
宫颈癌筛查指南更新仍处于草案阶段。去年首个居家巴氏涂片检测获得监管机构批准后，另一个联邦机构介入要求保险公司从2027年起覆盖该检测项目。
其他正在审议的指南建议包括不健康饮酒筛查或抑郁症筛查，以及维生素D是否可预防老年人骨折和跌倒。
心血管医疗团体近期建议，长期心脏病风险较高的成年人应从30岁起开始服用降胆固醇药物，而非现行的40岁。
美国健康保险计划贸易集团与联合健康集团在电子邮件中表示，这些指南预计将影响数百万人，但除非联邦工作组认可这些更新，否则保险公司并无义务为更广泛的检测或治疗提供覆盖。
“基层医疗从业者正陷入困境，不知道该怎么做，”弗吉尼亚联邦大学的克里斯特说道，“该工作组本应保持客观中立。”
本报洛杉矶分社记者迪娜·比斯利报道 卡罗琳·胡默尔与比尔·伯克鲁特编辑
我们的报道准则：遵循汤森路透信托原则。
Kennedy sidelining of US advisory panel delays updates to cancer screening guidelines
2026-04-02 10:03:53 UTC / Reuters
By Deena Beasley
April 2, 2026 10:03 AM UTC Updated 1 hour ago
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Secretary of Health and Human Services Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., speaks about new guidance for approving individualized drug and biological therapies during a press conference at the Health and Human Services headquarters in Washington, D.C., U.S., February 23, 2026. REUTERS/ Nathan Howard/File Photo Purchase Licensing Rights
- Experts warn delays hinder updates to disease screening guidelines
- Insurers may not cover new preventive services without task force recommendation
- Medical groups and senators urge action to restore panel, citing patient trust and coverage gaps
April 2 (Reuters) – The sidelining by U.S. Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. of the advisory panel that decides access to free preventive healthcare is delaying updates to screening guidelines for cancer, heart disease and other conditions, medical experts say.
The 16-member U.S. Preventive Services Task Force last met over a year ago. Three successive planned meetings were canceled and new members have not been named to replace the five volunteers whose terms expired in December.
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The panel, established in 1984, determines which medical tests and treatments, such as routine cancer screening or HIV prevention, are provided cost-free under health insurance plans. It can also decide that a test or treatment should not be routine.
Without the task force “commercial insurances can choose or not choose to cover these new preventive services,” said Dr. Alex Krist, a family practice physician at Virginia Commonwealth University and a former chair of the preventive care panel.
Early cancer detection saves lives and money, according to the American Cancer Society, but there are upfront costs. A recent study calculated the lifetime cost of mammograms for an average-risk U.S. woman at around $7,000.
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The task force, which usually issues around 22 draft and final recommendations annually, last year posted seven and none have been issued so far this year.
The panel was in the earlier stages of updating guidelines including for prostate cancer screening, genetic testing for a mutation linked to breast cancer, and the use of drugs to prevent people at high risk from developing breast cancer.
TRUSTED EXPERTS
“We have to rely on a trusted group of experts who have really weighed the benefits and risks and are looking at overall population health and doing no harm,” said Dr. Julie Gralow, chief medical officer at the American Society of Clinical Oncology. “Patients do trust these as well.”
Medical groups, which don’t always agree with the panel’s guidelines, have called on Congress “to protect the integrity” of the task force. Last month, 19 U.S. senators sent a letter to Kennedy urging him to support the work of the panel.
Sidelining the task force aligns with broader goals outlined by President Donald Trump to reshape federal health regulation.
“The current administration would not only like to cut back on regulation, they would definitely like to cut back on required benefits under the Affordable Care Act,” said Joseph Antos, senior fellow emeritus at conservative think tank the American Enterprise Institute.
The U.S. Supreme Court in a 2025 ruling involving insurance coverage for HIV prevention, affirmed that the Health Secretary has authority over the preventive care panel.
The panel in 2023 recommended that people at high risk be treated with drugs to prevent HIV infection, but that has not been updated to include Gilead Sciences’ GILD.O newer twice-yearly injection, Yeztugo.
As a result, patient costs for Yeztugo are set by individual plans, UnitedHealthcare, the largest U.S. health insurer, said in an email. The insurer said its commercial plans cover older HIV prevention medications at zero cost to patients.
An update to cervical cancer screening remains in the draft stage. After the first at-home pap smear was approved by regulators last year, a different federal agency stepped in to require that it be covered by insurers starting in 2027.
Other recommendations under review involve screening for unhealthy alcohol use or depression and whether vitamin D prevents fractures and falls in older people.
Cardiovascular medical groups recently advised that adults at high long-term risk of heart disease start cholesterol-lowering treatment as early as age 30 instead of the current 40.
The guidelines are expected to affect millions, but unless the federal task force matches them, insurers are not required to cover wider testing or treatment, the trade group America’s Health Insurance Plans and UnitedHealthcare said in emails.
“Primary care is kind of struggling with what we should do,” Virginia Commonwealth’s Krist said. “The task force is meant to be objective.”
Reporting By Deena Beasley in Los Angeles Editing by Caroline Humer and Bill Berkrot
Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.