DOJ Appeals Ruling Striking Down PrEP Coverage

Axios reports:

The Justice Department on Friday appealed a federal judge’s decision to invalidate the Affordable Care Act requirement for free coverage of specified preventive health services. The move kicks off a legal process that could wind up at the Supreme Court and has financial implications for some 150 million Americans on employer-sponsored health plans.

The appeal to the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals was widely expected and comes after Texas-based U.S. District Court Judge Reed O’Connor on Thursday struck down the preventive services requirement.

The ruling stemmed from a case brought by six individuals and two Christian-owned businesses who argued that they should not be mandated to offer coverage of HIV PrEP because they did not want to encourage “homosexual behavior.”

The Washington Blade reports:

O’Connor’s ruling struck down the recommendations that have been issued by the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force regarding the preventive care treatments provisions required by the ACA directing insurers provide at no cost to the patient.

White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre released a statement on the Justice Department decision to appeal: “The president is glad to see the Department of Justice is appealing the judge’s decision, which blocks a key provision of the Affordable Care Act that has ensured free access to preventive health care for 150 million Americans. 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.”

Photo: Anti-LGBTQ extremist Steven Hotze, suit author.

Justice Department appeals federal judge’s ACA ruling https://t.co/DfNmkTBnCF

— Washington Blade (@WashBlade) April 1, 2023