Supreme Court upholds Obamacare provision for no-cost preventive services

The court, split 6-3, ruled in favor of the Trump administration, which was defending the law.

The U.S. Supreme Court ruled to protect a key provision of the Affordable Care Act that requires health insurers to cover preventive care such as cancer screenings at no cost to patients.

The 6-3 ruling stemmed from a lawsuit filed by a group of Christian-owned businesses alleging the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force, which chooses what services will be covered, is composed of members who were not validly appointed. Its 16 members are appointed by the U.S. Secretary of Health and Human Services without Senate confirmation.

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.

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 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.

A 2023 analysis prepared by the nonprofit KFF found that ruling would still allow full-coverage requirements for some services, including mammography and cervical cancer screening.