Appellate Ruling Largely Preserves Access To Preventive Services, But Threats Loom

Health Affairs June 28, 2024
Zachary Baron, Andrew Twinamatsiko

On June 21, 2024, a Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals panel issued a ruling in Braidwood Management, Inc., v. Becerra, a lawsuit challenging the Affordable Care Act’s (ACA) requirement that insurers and employers cover a broad array of preventive services without cost-sharing.

Characterizing its own decision as a “mixed bag,” the Fifth Circuit panel concluded (as the district court previously had) that the operation and lack of oversight for the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force (USPSTF) violated the Constitution’s Appointments Clause. However, the Fifth Circuit found that the district court erred in granting the plaintiffs nationwide relief to block enforcement of this aspect of the ACA’s preventive services provision. Rather, the court limited relief to only the named plaintiffs.

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