WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, America First Legal (AFL) and co-counsel Jonathan F. Mitchell secured a resounding win before the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit in Braidwood Management Inc. v. Becerra. A unanimous panel of the Fifth Circuit held that a key provision of the Affordable Care Act violates Article II’s Appointments Clause by empowering the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force to dictate the preventive care that all private insurers must cover. In other words—unaccountable, unelected bureaucrats don’t get to make unilateral decisions about Americans’ healthcare coverage, which has led to tremendous increases in the cost of insurance for all Americans.
The Affordable Care Act, also known as “Obamacare,” requires all private health insurers to cover preventive care without any cost-sharing arrangements such as copays or deductibles. It also requires private insurers to cover any preventive care that receives an “A” or “B” rating from the United States Preventive Services Task Force.
AFL argued that this arrangement violates Article II of the Constitution because the members of the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force wield significant powers yet are not appointed as “officers of the United States” as required by Article II. The Fifth Circuit unanimously agreed and held that the members of the Task Force are “principal officers” who must be appointed by the President with the Senate’s advice and consent and that the Affordable Care Act violates Article II’s Appointments Clause by empowering the Task Force to impose preventive-care coverage mandates on private insurers.
Effectively, all preventive-care coverage mandates imposed by the Task Force since March 23, 2010, are unenforceable in the Fifth Circuit, and private insurers in Texas, Louisiana, and Mississippi need not comply with them.
The Fifth Circuit also revived AFL’s Appointments Clause challenges to the preventive-care coverage mandates imposed by the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP) and the Health Resources Services Administration (HRSA) and remanded for the district court to further consider those claims.
Statement from Gene Hamilton, America First Legal Executive Director:
“We are pleased that the Fifth Circuit agreed with our arguments and held that the Affordable Care Act violates Article II’s Appointments Clause by empowering the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force to dictate the preventive care that private insurers must cover. Today’s decision is a victory for the Constitution, the rule of law, and every American who does not want unelected bureaucrats making decisions about their healthcare coverage,” said Gene Hamilton.
Read the opinion here.
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