The Supreme Court upholds a key Obamacare measure on preventive care
The Supreme Court preserved a key part of Obamacare coverage requirements that requires health plans to provide free preventive care
The Supreme Court on Friday upheld a key provision of the Affordable Care Act (ACA), known as Obamacare, guaranteeing, at least for now, that some 150 million people will continue to receive numerous free preventive services under the law.
The vote was 6 to 3, with Chief Justice John Roberts and Justices Amy Coney Barrett and Brett Kavanaugh joining the majority of the court's three liberal female justices.
The court upheld the Affordable Care Act with its ruling, allowing the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force to continue determining what services will be available free of charge to Americans covered by the Affordable Care Act.
The case involved a lawsuit seeking to strike down the preventive care provision by challenging the process for appointing members to a 16-person task force that determines what preventive services should be provided free of charge under insurance policies.
Two lower courts declared the appointments unconstitutional, but on Friday, the Supreme Court opposed them.
In Becerra v. Braidwood Management Inc., a Christian-owned company, and six individuals challenged the preventive care provision because it requires health care plans to cover pre-exposure medications intended to prevent the spread of HIV among certain at-risk populations. The plaintiffs also contend that a committee of experts that sets coverage requirements for preventive health plans is unconstitutional because its members are not appointed by the president with Senate approval, in violation of the Appointments Clause. The case came to the Supreme Court after an appeals court struck down some preventive care coverage requirements. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuitruled in favor of Christian employers and Texas residents, who argued they can't be forced to provide full coverage for drugs like HIV preventatives and some cancer screenings.
ACA preventive treatments have benefited millions of people since the health care law took effect 11 years ago, long enough that most take the free coverage for granted.
Activists argued that if the court ruled in favor of the groups challenging the law, the benefits could disappear.