WASHINGTON — The Supreme Court on Friday rejected a challenge to an Affordable Care Act provision that set up a panel to recommend preventive care services that insurers must provide at no cost to patients.
The court, split 6-3, ruled in favor of the Trump administration, which was defending the law, saying the task force members are lawfully appointed under the Constitution’s appointments clause.
The task force members are under the supervision of the health and human services secretary, a position held by Robert F. Kennedy Jr., which addresses any concerns that it is not accountable to the executive branch, the court found in an opinion written by Justice Brett Kavanaugh.
The task force members’ appointment is “fully consistent” with the Appointments Clause, Kavanaugh said. He also noted that Kennedy can fire the task force members at any time and has the authority to review their recommendations.
Three conservative justices dissented.
The case arose from a challenge brought by Christian employers Braidwood Management and Kelley Orthodontics, in addition to several individuals, who objected on religious grounds to the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force’s approval of no-cost coverage for the HIV prevention medication known as pre-exposure prophylaxis, or PrEP.
The plaintiffs asserted that their religious rights were violated “by making them complicit in facilitating homosexual behavior, drug use, and sexual activity outside of marriage between one man and one woman.”
But by the time the case reached the Supreme Court, the legal issue was not the religious question raised under the Constitution’s First Amendment, focusing solely on the appointments issue.
The U.S. Preventive Services Task Force recommends a wide array of preventive services related to such issues as cancer, diabetes and heart disease.
The challengers said the structure of the task force was unlawful because members were not properly appointed via a presidential nomination and Senate confirmation. They added that the panel’s members are intended to be independent and not under the control of the health and human services secretary as the government argued.
The panel, composed of outside experts, has 16 members and was formed as an independent body appointed by the federal official who heads the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality.
The dispute is the latest to reach the Supreme Court over the 2010 health care law — then-President Barack Obama’s signature legislative achievement — which Republicans have regularly attacked in court and sought to repeal.
This time, the Trump administration defended the provision in question after having taken over the case from the Biden administration.
The lawsuit was filed in 2020, leading to a federal judge in Texas issuing a ruling that said the structure of the task force was unconstitutional and all of its decisions should be considered invalid nationwide.
The New Orleans-based 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals narrowed that ruling somewhat last year. The Biden administration then took the case to the Supreme Court.
The Supreme Court has a 6-3 conservative majority that has regularly weakened the power of federal agencies.