ACA’s Free Preventive Services Mandate Stands, Appeals Court Rules
The lawsuit was brought by two Christian-owned Texas businesses opposed to covering the HIV-prevention drug. That portion of the case — specifically a panel's authority — has been sent back to a lower court for review.
Axios:
Court Upholds ACA's Free Preventive Services Mandate
Health insurers nationwide must continue to provide coverage of certain preventive services like cancer screenings and behavioral counseling at no cost, a federal appeals court ruled Friday. The decision in the closely watched case largely preserves the Affordable Care Act's free preventive services requirement. (Goldman, 6/21)
NBC News:
Appeals Court Finds 'Obamacare' Pillar Unconstitutional In Suit Over HIV-Prevention Drug
A federal appeals court on Friday found unconstitutional a key component of the Affordable Care Act that grants a health task force the effective authority to require that insurers both cover an array of preventive health interventions and screenings and refrain from imposing out-of-pocket costs for them. The lawsuit centered on the objections of a coalition of small businesses in Texas to the requirement that they cover a drug for HIV prevention, known as PrEP, in their employee health plans. (Ryan, 6/21)
Axios:
U.S. Health Care Is Deeply Unequal — And Might Get Worse
We've spent the last nine weeks going through health care's defining topics, but if there's a thread tying them all together it's this: Health care in America is deeply unequal, and it might get worse. All of the innovation in the world won't make any difference to patients if it's unaffordable or inaccessible, and right now everything in the pipeline is headed for a two-tiered system. (Owens, 6/21)
In related news about HIV —
CNBC:
Gilead’s Twice-Yearly Shot To Prevent HIV Succeeds In Late-Stage Trial
Gilead’s experimental twice-yearly medicine to prevent HIV was 100% effective in a late-stage trial, the company said Thursday. None of the roughly 2,000 women in the trial who received the lenacapavir shot had contracted HIV by an interim analysis, prompting the independent data monitoring committee to recommend Gilead unblind the Phase 3 trial and offer the treatment to everyone in the study. Other participants had received standard daily pills. (Peebles, 6/20)
KFF Health News:
Young Gay Latinos See Rising Share Of New HIV Cases, Leading To Call For Targeted Funding
Four months after seeking asylum in the U.S., Fernando Hermida began coughing and feeling tired. He thought it was a cold. Then sores appeared in his groin and he would soak his bed with sweat. He took a test. On New Year’s Day 2022, at age 31, Hermida learned he had HIV. “I thought I was going to die,” he said, recalling how a chill washed over him as he reviewed his results. He struggled to navigate a new, convoluted health care system. (Sánchez, Bose and Reese, 6/24)
