Preserving Access to Preventive Services

In September of 2022, US District Court Judge Reed O’Connor struck down the process mandated in the Affordable Care Act (ACA) that requires private insurers to cover preventive services recommended by the US Preventive Services Task Force (USPSTF) without copay as constitutionally flawed in the case of Braidwood Management v. Becerra.  He considered potential remedies to correct the flaw, putting treatments such as proven screenings for colorectal, cervical, and lung cancers at risk.  ACS CAN led 16 patient groups representing millions of people with serious health conditions in this amicus brief providing scientific data on how preventive services save lives and are cost-effective.  Read our statement.

Unfortunately, in March of 2023, the judge ruled that the Department of Health and Human Services could no longer enforce the USPSTF provision of the ACA against insurers, finding all mandates based on recommendations since March of 2010 were invalid.  Patient groups urged the US Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit to issue a stay. Read our amicus brief and our statement. 

The Fifth Circuit granted an administrative stay in mid-May, which should guarantee patients barrier-free access to the services while the litigation continues, unless the court decides to revoke it.  ACS CAN applauded the stay when it was issued.