>> A federal judge in Texas has
ruled employers cannot be
required to cover key
preventative health care
benefits under the affordable
care act.
It jeopardizes free coverage of
a wide range of services for
some 160 million Americans.
The Biden administration
expected to request a stay on
the ruling.
Larry Levitt is the executive
vice president for health policy
at at the Kaiser family
foundation and joins us.
Thank you for joining us.
This ruling stems from a case
brought by Christian owned
businesses and others who argued
they should not have to cover
HIV prep, which is a preexposure
prophylaxis.
What does it mean more broadly
in terms of the implications?
>> On one hand, this decision is
not as broad as some of the
other legal challenges we have
seen with the affordable care
act.
It does not threaten the very
existence of Obama care, the
subsidies that may cover more
affordable pre-existing
condition protections.
On the other hand, it is a very
significant decision.
100 million people in a typical
year use their preventive
services.
And it requires them to provide
with no deductibles.
The judge's decision does not
pull out of the -- all of those
preventative services.
It will affect millions over
time.
>> When you talk about the
preventative services, what kind
of things are we talking about?
>> The kind of preventive
services are very broad.
It is cancer screenings,
contraception, screenings for
depression and anxiety.
Many of those will stay.
What the ruling does is say any
preventive services that were
added after 2010 when the
affordable care act passed,
where the ones thrown out.
The ones that will no longer or
could no longer be covered by
insurers include prep,
medication that prevents HIV.
That lower cholesterol and help
prevent heart disease.
Medications that help reduce the
risk of breast cancer, lung
cancer screening.
A narrower set of services many
people are getting, but still
quite significant.
>> Insurers can either drop
coverage for those kinds of
services and screenings
altogether, or start charging
for those.
What do you expect to happen?
>> First of all, I don't think
anything will happen immediately
because we are in the middle of
the calendar year and many
insurance contracts are still in
place.
Come next year, I think insurers
will look at the ruling if it
stands, if the Biden
administration does not
successfully get a stay, they
will look at it and make
decisions.
I suspect it will still cover
these services.
Any of them will be subject to
deductibles or co-pays, which
can be quite expensive.
>> The judge in this case
basically ruled the government
can't force employers to provide
services because the task force
that determine which should be
covered was comprised of medical
advisors, not government
employees.
We mention we expect the Biden
administration to appeal.
What happens next?
>> The first step will be on
appeal to get a stay.
This judge in Texas not only
said the preventive services
requirement doesn't apply to
these employers, the employers
in Texas, or even just in Texas.
Then it would go to the court of
appeals in that region, a pretty
conservative court.
>> We've got about a minute and
a half or so left.
Oh we ago, the white house was
celebrating 13 years of the
affordable care act and record
high open enrollment numbers.
This was narrow.
But it was a key provision of
the ACA.
What does it tell you about the
future?
>> This is an enormously popular
provision of the ACA.
Not something that is
controversial like the mandate
that required people to get
insured or pay a penalty or the
employer mandate.
It was extremely popular.
The politics around the
affordable care act.
With 13 years in, the Biden
administration has reinvigorated
the affordable care act after
the trump administration tried
to weaken it.
Record enrollment, record low
uninsured rate.
Republicans are really not
publicly talking about repealing
the ACA anymore.
This ruling potentially puts
them on the hot seat.
>> We will be watching this
unfold.
Larry Levitt, executive vice
president for health policy at
the Kaiser family foundation.
Thank you for joining us.