Braidwood Case is Latest Effort by ACA Opponents and Republicans to use the Courts To Dismantle American Health Care
Washington DC — Today, U.S. District Judge Reed O’Connor struck down a major provision of the Affordable Care Act (ACA) that requires no cost coverage of lifesaving preventive health care services. Today’s decision in Braidwood Management v. Becerra would end ACA’s guaranteed free access to essential preventive services. In 2020 alone, more than 150 million Americans benefited from these preventive services.
Judge O’Connor invalidated all of the benefits covered under the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force, including lifesaving breast cancer screenings, colorectal and other cancer screenings, anxiety and depression screenings for children and adults, heart disease screenings, intimate partner violence screenings, and access to PrEP (pre-exposure prophylaxis), which can reduce the chance of contracting HIV. The ruling applies nationwide.
Protect Our Care Chair Leslie Dach issued the following statement:
“Judge O’Connor’s decision will increase costs and hurt millions of families across the country who depend on free preventive care to stay healthy. From the start, this was a politically-driven lawsuit, financially supported by people with extreme views, and placed in front of a judge with a proven record of attempting to dismantle the ACA. As a result of this devastating ruling, Americans will again be at the mercy of insurance companies who could increase costs for cancer screenings, prenatal care, mental health screenings, and more. This ruling will upend how Americans receive preventive care in this country, and more Americans will die because their cancers will be detected too late or they won’t receive the mental health or prenatal care they need. The courts must stay this ruling pending appeal. The health and financial security of millions of Americans is now at grave risk.”