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The Supreme Court announced Friday that it will examine the constitutionality of the Affordable Care Act’s free coverage mandate for certain preventive care services, echoing President-elect Donald Trump’s efforts to repeal the Affordable Care Act. A groundbreaking medical law is once again in front of a judge. Legislation from his first presidency returns to the White House.
Although the incident does not pose an existential threat to Obamacare, it could jeopardize Americans’ access to free preventive treatments and services, such as HIV prevention drugs, cardiac statins, and a variety of tests for cancer and other diseases. There is sex.
Some of these preventive services can be costly and may prevent some people, especially low-income groups, from accessing care and delay early detection of potentially deadly diseases. There is.
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit has ruled that the mission in question, based on the recommendations of the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force, violates the Appointments Clause of the Constitution because its members are not appointed by the president with Senate confirmation. I put it down. The Fifth Circuit’s decision targeted the no-cost coverage requirement introduced after Obamacare was enacted in March 2010.
The appellate ruling only blocked the mandate from applying to Texas companies and several individuals who were challengers in specific cases. But both the Biden administration and the challengers agree that the Fifth Circuit’s precedent has prompted other parties to file lawsuits seeking to block the mandate nationwide, and both have filed suit before the Supreme Court. requested that it be taken up.
Other pro bono coverage obligations at risk from the 5th Circuit’s ruling include prenatal nutritional supplements, physical therapy to prevent falls for older Americans, and the Biden administration estimates that 10,000 There are lung cancer tests that can save lives. 20,000 Americans a year.
A variety of other free preventive services are not at issue in the lawsuit, including infant visits, autism screenings for children, cervical cancer screenings, breastfeeding assistance programs for women, and vaccines for influenza, measles, and chickenpox.
Research shows that Obamacare mandates increased the availability of preventive services and reduced care disparities in communities of color.
Zachary Baron, director of the Center for Health Policy and Law at Georgetown University’s O’Neill Institute, told CNN that “even if the out-of-pocket cost is small, it doesn’t mean people will use these services.” Ta. “They end up delaying things by trying to coordinate different bills.”
In a motion asking the Supreme Court to take up the case, U.S. Attorney General Elizabeth Preloger wrote that the Fifth Circuit’s decision “has been in place for 14 years and is currently ineffective against health care protections that millions of Americans currently enjoy.” It jeopardizes the
“This Court’s review is warranted because the Court of Appeals has held the Congressional Act unconstitutional and its legal basis to cause incalculable and substantial harm,” she wrote, adding that the Court of Appeals’ subsequent decision “ The appellate court’s decision would destroy a critical part of the ACA that provides health protections to millions of Americans.”
The challengers also asked the Supreme Court to take up the case, arguing that the Fifth Circuit’s decision was “well reasoned and correct.” They pointed to the typical practice of the Supreme Court recognizing precedent when an act of Congress is deemed unconstitutional by a lower court.
Braidwood, a Texas company, sued over this mandate because the company had moral objections to covering the HIV prevention drug known as PrEP. The company also objected to insurance payments that covered sexually transmitted disease testing and other treatment related to conduct the employer morally objected to.
The lawsuit was first filed in 2020, when the Trump administration was defending the requirements of the Affordable Care Act.
Gene Hamilton, the company’s representative, is a graduate of the first Trump administration’s Justice Department and currently co-leads America First Legal, a legal advocacy group, with Trump advisor Stephen Miller. Jonathan Mitchell, who also represents the challenger, argued on Trump’s behalf in the Colorado ballot access case before the Supreme Court last term.
This story has been updated with additional details.
