The protesters in support of the Health Law of the US President Barack Obama, the Law of Low Price Health Care (ACA), Hold Up 'ACA is here to maintain' signs after the Supreme Court of the United States ruled 6-3 to save tax subsidies of Obamacare outside the Supreme Court of Washington, DC, on June 25, 2015.
Andrew Harrer | Bloomberg | Getty images
Washington – The Supreme Court on Friday rejected a challenge to a provision of the Law of Low Price Health Care that established a panel to recommend preventive care services that insurers should provide at no cost to patients.
The court, divided 6-3, failed in favor of the Trump administration, which defended the law, saying that the members of the working group are legally appointed by the appointment clause of the Constitution.
The members of the task group are under the supervision of the Secretary of Health and Human Services, a position by Robert F. Kennedy Jr., who addresses any concern that he is not responsible to the Executive Power, the court found in an opinion written by Judge Brett Kavanaugh.
The appointment of the members of the working group is “totally consistent” with the dating clause, Kavanaugh said. He also pointed out that Kennedy can fire the members of the working group at any time and has the authority to review their recommendations.
Three conservative judges dismit.
The case arose from a challenge presented by Christian employers Braidwood Management and Kelley Orthodontics, in addition to several people, who opposed religious reasons for the approval of the Preventive Services Task Group of the United States of coverage at no cost for HIV prevention medication known as pre -exposition, or preparation prophylaxis.
The plaintiffs affirmed that their religious rights were violated “making them complicit in facilitating homosexual behavior, drug use and sexual activity outside the marriage between a man and a woman.”
But by the time the case reached the Supreme Court, the legal issue was not the religious issue raised under the first amendment of the Constitution, focusing solely on the issue of appointments.
The US Preventive Services Task Group recommends a wide range of preventive services related to problems such as cancer, diabetes and heart disease.
The challengers said that the structure of the working group was illegal because the members were not appropriately designated through a presidential nomination and confirmation of the Senate. They added that panel members are destined to be independent and not under the control of the Secretary of Health and Human Services, as the government argued.
The panel, composed of external experts, has 16 members and was formed as an independent body designated by the federal official directed by the Agency for Health Research and Quality.
The dispute is the last to reach the Supreme Court on the 2010 Medical Attention Law, the characteristic legislative achievement of the then President Barack Obama, which the Republicans have regularly attacked in court and tried to repeal.
This time, the Trump administration defended the provision in question after assuming the case of the Biden administration.
The lawsuit was presented in 2020, which led a federal judge in Texas who issued a ruling that said that the structure of the working group was unconstitutional and all its decisions should be considered invalid throughout the country.
The 5th Court of Appeals of the United States Circuit based in New Orleans reduced that decision last year. The Biden administration then brought the case to the Supreme Court.
The Supreme Court has a conservative majority 6-3 that has regularly weakened the power of federal agencies.
