Supreme Court preserves key part of Obamacare coverage requirements
[June 28, 2025]
By LINDSAY WHITEHURST
WASHINGTON (AP) — The Supreme Court preserved a key part of the
Affordable Care Act’s preventive health care coverage requirements on
Friday, rejecting a challenge from Christian employers to the provision
that affects some 150 million Americans.
The 6-3 ruling comes in a lawsuit over how the government decides which
health care medications and services must be fully covered by private
insurance under former President Barack Obama’s signature law, often
referred to as Obamacare.
Justice Brett Kavanaugh wrote for the court's majority. Justice Clarence
Thomas dissented, joined by Justices Samuel Alito and Neil Gorsuch.
The plaintiffs said the process is unconstitutional because a volunteer
board of medical experts tasked with recommending which services are
covered is not Senate-approved.
The Supreme Court found that's not necessary because the panel answers
to the Secretary of Health and Human Services. “In short, through the
power to remove and replace Task Force members at will, the Secretary
can exert significant control over the Task Force — including by
blocking recommendations he does not agree with,” Kavanaugh wrote.
President Donald Trump's administration defended the mandate before the
court, though the Republican president has been a critic of his
Democratic predecessor's law. The Justice Department said board members
don’t need Senate approval because they can be removed by the health and
human services secretary.
Medications and services that could have been affected include statins
to lower cholesterol, lung cancer screenings, HIV-prevention drugs and
medication to lower the chance of breast cancer for women.
The decision protects access to free preventive care for millions of
Americans, according to Alan Balch, CEO of the nonprofit Patient
Advocate Foundation. He said research shows that the prospect of even
small bills can stop people from getting care.
“We are all relieved that we don’t have to deliver bad news today to the
patients we serve,” Balch said in a statement.
[to top of second column]
|
The Supreme Court is seen on Capitol Hill in Washington, Dec. 17,
2024. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite, File)
 The group GLBTQ Legal Advocates &
Defenders applauded the continued preventive care coverage while
noting “deep concern” about the power of the HHS secretary to hire
and fire members of the panel. “We must be vigilant about the
politicization of the Task Force going forward,” the group said in a
statement.
The case came before the Supreme Court after an appeals court struck
down some preventive care coverage requirements. The U.S. 5th
Circuit Court of Appeals sided with the Christian employers and
Texas residents who argued they can’t be forced to provide full
insurance coverage for things like medication to prevent HIV and
some cancer screenings.
Well-known conservative attorney Jonathan Mitchell, who represented
Trump before the high court in a dispute about whether he could
appear on the 2024 ballot, argued the case.
The appeals court found that coverage requirements were
unconstitutional because they came from a body — the United States
Preventive Services Task Force — whose members were not nominated by
the president and confirmed by the Senate.
Thomas agreed, writing that appointment by the president and
confirmation by the Senate is the rule and Congress must explicitly
adopt any alternatives, and that didn't happen with the Obamacare
board. “It is the law, whether we agree with it or not,” he wrote.
___
Associated Press health writer Tom Murphy contributed to this
report.
All contents © copyright 2025 Associated Press. All rights reserved
 |
