A federal judge in Texas on Thursday struck down a key provision of the Affordable Care Act, known as Obamacare, jeopardizing a range of preventive services, including screenings for cancer and mental health.
The magistrate Reed O’Connorwho has already issued several rulings against the health law promulgated by the president Barack Obama in 2010, he validated the claim of a group of conservative businessmen in Texas who argue that those provisions are unconstitutional.
The ruling overturns the recommendations of the Preventive Services Task Force whose task is to determine what preventive treatments are required by law (HERE for its acronym in English) are covered under insurance at no cost to the patient.
O’Connor ruled that the team itself is unconstitutional because its members, 16 volunteer scientists and medical professionals, are not appointed by the president or confirmed by the Senate, yet their recommendations are binding.
In addition, o’connor ruled that the requirement under HERE that insurance companies and employers offer health care plans that cover measures for the prevention of the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) at no cost to the user.
This is because, in the opinion of the judge, the obligation to cover the PrEP prophylactic drug violates the religious rights of employers and therefore should not apply to them.
The decision can be appealed, and the US Department of Justice has the option of requesting that O’Connor’s ruling be suspended while the appeal is processed.
O’Connor’s ruling immediately jeopardizes access to treatment for some 100 million people in the United States who use preventive services each year.
In addition, the decision leaves the door open for insurers to impose deductible fees and additional payments for obtaining potentially life-saving tests and tests.
Last January, the Government of President Joe Biden announced that approximately 15.9 million people had signed up in the previous year for the various plans covered by the ACA law.
Republicans in Congress, who opposed passage of the law, have repeatedly moved to strike it down and have failed.
During his 2016 presidential campaign, Donald Trump promised to scrap the ACA and replace it with something better, but that failed to garner enough support in Congress, and the law remains in effect.
Source: EFE
Source: Gestion
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