The free provision of a wide range of preventive services, such as mammograms, colonoscopies, and mental health screenings, for nearly 168 million people with employer-sponsored health insurance and on Obamacare’s market is now in jeopardy after a federal judge on Thursday struck down a key provision of the Affordable Care Act.
Judge Reed O’Connor of the District Court, who has previously ruled against Obamacare, supported conservative businesses and people in Texas who argued that the U.S. Since 2010, the Preventative Services Task Force has been violating the Constitution by imposing specific mandates. The ruling prevents the laws from being enforced across the country.
Judge Strikes Down Free HIV Drugs
President George W. Bush appointed O’Connor to the U.S. The Northern District of Texas District Court further held that the employers’ religious freedoms were violated by the mandate to cover the HIV prevention medicine PrEP and that it could not be enforced against them.
O’Connor, the employers, and people had the right to sue because “compulsory coverage for those services violates their religious beliefs by making them complicit in facilitating homosexual behavior, drug use, and sexual activity outside of marriage between one man and one woman.”
In their defense, the employers pointed out that the U.S., Because the Preventative Services Task Force’s members are not government workers but private medical consultants, cannot be enforced.
“The Appointments Clause says major policy decisions have to be made by an ‘officer of the United States,’ and can’t be made by just somebody off the street,” explained Nicholas Bagley, a professor at the University of Michigan whose research focuses on the implementation of the Affordable Care Act.
Partially agreeing, Judge O’Connor denied two more attempts to prohibit the contraception requirement in the Affordable Care Act (ACA), one on religious freedom and the other on secular cost concerns. The challengers have stated that they intend to contest that judgment. The judgment also has no bearing on the availability of free vaccinations, which are protected by specific legislation.
The verdict was made four years after the same court declared Obamacare as a whole to be unconstitutional, a finding that the United States eventually overturned. High Court. It is also the most recent shot in a protracted battle by conservatives to weaken the standards of the former president’s landmark health program.
The Biden administration is anticipated to win over the 5th U.S. district, which leans conservative. Circuit Court of Appeals made several arguments in support of the historic health reform law that the judge rejected, including that it is crucial to have access to PrEP and other sexual health preventive services to stop the spread of HIV, particularly after the nation stumbled when it came to diagnosing and treating patients during the Covid-19 pandemic.
O’Connor said the government does not need to compel private insurance companies to cover medications like PrEP to achieve its public health objectives, despite acknowledging a “compelling government interest in inhibiting the spread of a potentially fatal infectious disease like HIV.”
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The challengers’ claim that they lack standing to file a lawsuit because they cannot demonstrate that the preventative care mandate caused them injury was likewise rejected by O’Connor.
When the challengers were asked how much more preventive care coverage increased their insurance premiums, the ruling stated, “Plaintiffs stated that they could not quantify the higher expenses, but that they knew their premiums had grown too expensive to afford.”
On PrEP and preventative treatment, O’Connor had previously ruled with the challengers in September. Still, he had not specified whether his decision would apply to the plaintiffs, all Texas residents, or all Americans, and he had asked for an additional briefing. In the end, O’Connor agreed with the requests for a “universal” decision, possibly upending the domestic insurance sector.
Most people with private insurance are covered by self-insured employer plans, exempt from the laws that require insurance companies to provide coverage for these kinds of preventative care regardless of federal legislation in 15 states.
The Justice Department did not immediately answer an inquiry for comments. The Justice and Health Departments are reviewing the decision, according to White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre, who also stated that the administration sees it as “yet another attack on the Affordable Care Act” and “yet another attack on the ability of Americans to make their own health care choices.”
Democratic lawmakers on Capitol Hill begged the administration to quickly appeal what they described as a “reckless judgment,” stating that doing so “would put lives in danger.”
“I am also calling on all health care insurers to commit to continuing to cover all preventive services without cost-sharing while this case is litigated and until final disposition of the lawsuit,” said Frank Pallone (D-N.J.) ranking member of the Energy and Commerce committee.
Although the decision is unlikely to have an immediate impact, health insurance experts claim that individuals may be discouraged from obtaining care for fear of being faced with a high medical cost. The effects will not be noticed immediately because most insurance policies are locked in until the end of the year, but this isn’t always the case, said Bagley. There is a great deal of uncertainty.
FREE the words tweeted that Texas judge strikes down free HIV drugs, and cancer screenings under Obamacare. You can see below:
Texas judge strikes down free HIV drugs, cancer screenings under Obamacare https://t.co/MZcbfDObn8 pic.twitter.com/9ibBZEiP46
— FREE the Words (@FREEtheWordsnow) March 30, 2023
With a one-line bill that stated: “Anything the USPTF advises has to be covered, subject to approval by the HHS Secretary,” Congress could quickly remedy the situation, he continued. Yet given that the GOP presently controls the House, the chances of passing are slim.
The Supreme Court has upheld the Affordable Care Act on several occasions. Still, it has also struck down essential program provisions, such as the Medicaid expansion and the mandate for contraception coverage.
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