Thread by @mjs_DC

🚨Judge Reed O'Connor STRIKES DOWN a major provision of the Affordable Care Act requiring insurers to cover a vast amount of preventive care cost-free (contraception, cancer screening, PrEP, a ton of pregnancy-related care). The ruling applies nationwide. storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.usco…

Here is a list of the many, many preventive care treatments that insurers must cover cost-free under the ACA. Reed O'Connor just struck down the entire section of the law mandating this coverage. This is a gigantic blow to the ACA and U.S. health care. uspreventiveservicestaskforce.org/uspstf/recomme…

O'Connor rules that the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force—the federal agency that decides which medical care all insurers must cover—is unconstitutional because it violates the Appointments Clause, and invalidates its power to enforce anything against anyone nationwide.

I anticipated this decision in September when O'Connor first telegraphed it. It is nothing short of catastrophic to the U.S. health care system. Millions of Americans, including many pregnant women, will have to forgo basic care if it is upheld.
slate.com/news-and-polit…