Justice Dept. Appeals Ruling on ACA-Backed Preventive Care

WASHINGTON — The Justice Department has filed a notice of appeal with the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals seeking to reverse a federal judge’s ruling that employers cannot be forced to cover preventive care services under the Affordable Care Act.

U.S. District Judge Reed O’Connor handed down his ruling on Thursday, touching off a firestorm of consternation.

Rep. Frank Pallone Jr., D-N.J., ranking member of the House Energy and Commerce Committee, said if allowed to stand, O’Connor’s decision would imperil access of approximately 150 million Americans to lifesaving care such as mammograms, lung cancer and skin cancer screenings, screenings for pregnant women and newborns and PrEP.

“It has no basis in the law, will unnecessarily cause confusion, and will put lives at risk if people are forced to forgo routine screenings and treatment,” Pallone said.

The case underlying O’Connor’s ruling was filed by six individuals and two Christian-owned businesses in the state of Texas who argued that they should not be mandated to offer coverage of HIV PrEP because they did not want to encourage homosexual behavior.

The Justice Department did not spell out the specific line of reasoning for its appeal.

Last September, Judge O’Connor ruled that ACA’s PrEP mandate violated the defendants’ rights under the Religious Freedom Restoration Act, which “ensures that interests in religious freedom are protected.”

The ruling has possible implications for the ACA’s contraception mandate, which was also challenged in the case. 

In a statement released by the White House, Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said the president was glad to learn of the appeal.

“This case is yet another attack on the Affordable Care Act — which has been the law of the land for 13 years and survived three challenges before the Supreme Court,” she said.

“Preventive care saves lives, saves families money, and protects and improves our health. Because of the ACA, millions of Americans have access to free cancer and heart disease screenings. This decision threatens to jeopardize critical care,” she continued.

“The administration will continue to fight to improve health care and make it more affordable for hard-working families, even in the face of attacks from special interests.”

In addition to lambasting the ruling, Pallone called 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. 

“There is no excuse to eliminate consumer protections because of a meritless decision that I expect will rightfully be overturned on appeal. I will be following up with insurers for their commitments in writing,” he said.

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